WARRIORS: Lost in the Wind
by Adlet
Summary: Half-Clan siblings Blossomkit and Shadowkit have been born outside of the clans MoonClan, FlameClan, MistClan, and EarthClan after their father left their mother alone before they were born. Three moons after their kitting, the duo's mother Frostbreeze makes a decision that changes her kits' lives forever. The two, separated and re-named, believe one another to be dead...
1. Prologue: They Were Born

**To all who Dislike Fan-Clans;**

**If you just decided to click on this to see if this is just another bad FanClan fic, then let me just say something.**

**I don't like FanClans either.**

**You see, I just don't like messing with the canon either when making an entirely new story. So I thought that the perfect way to do that was to use FanClans my friends and I roleplayed with WAY back in fourth garde.**

**Those were good times.**

**So, yes, this will be filled to the brim with OCs and FanClan lore, but let me just say this-**

**Who says there are only five clans?**

**StarClan seems to be everywhere Sliverpelt touches, so really, each FanClan (in its own way) might be canon.**

**Now, be warned. We have one "out there" clan that some people might be turned away by. But we REALLY wanted to keep our nine-year-old logic intact as possible.**

**But without further ado, here's my co-author Drizzle117 and I's fanfiction...**

* * *

_Do you feel a sense of…loneliness?  
Do you know where you are?  
__Do you know where your family is?  
Are you…_

_Lost in the Wind?_

(Written by Adlet and Drizzle117)

* * *

**ALLEGIANCES **

**MoonClan**

**Leader:**  
Foxstar- Bright ginger tom with a ragged pelt

**Deputy:**  
Snowfeather- Pure white she-cat with a feathery tail

**Medicine Cat:**  
Shellclaw- Silver tabby tom with amber eyes  
Apprentice: Rainpaw

**Warriors:**  
Pinecloud- Grey tom with dark green eyes  
Shrewnose- Small dusty brown she-cat with a black nose  
Emberheart- Large grey she-cat  
Cloverstep-White she-cat with grey streaks  
Voleclaw- Dark brown tom  
Pebblefall- Dark grey tom with white flecks  
Ripplebrook- Gorgeous bluish-grey she-cat  
Mousethroat- Brown tom with cream chest fur

**Apprentices:**  
Rainpaw- Almost white grey she-cat with blue eyes

**Queens:**  
Mosspool- Brown tabby she-cat with broad shoulders. Mother of Foxstar's kit, Waterkit (White she cat with several ginger patches)

**Elders:**  
Meadowsong- Dusty brown she-cat with white stripes  
Nightsky- Jet black she-cat with yellow eyes

**FlameClan**

**Leader:**  
Darkstar- Jet black tom with unusual pale grey eyes

**Deputy:**  
Berryfrost- Grey she-cat with cream patches and kind green eyes  
Apprentice: Flowerpaw

**Medicine Cat:**  
Shadowwhisker- Black she-cat with a splash of white chest fur.

**Warriors:**  
Whitescar- Pure white tom  
Apprentice: Foxpaw  
Ebonyflight- Raven black she-cat with lively amber eyes  
Oakscar- Dusty brown tom with blue eyes  
Apprentice: Eaglepaw  
Maplestep- Ginger and white she-cat with light green eyes  
Apprentice-Duskpaw  
Wolfheart- Scruffy brown tom

**Apprentices:**  
Flowerpaw- Ginger and white she-cat with blue eyes  
Duskpaw- Grey tom with brown eyes  
Eaglepaw- Brown and white tom  
Foxpaw- Fox-colored she-cat with amber eyes

**Queens:**  
Gingermoon- Silvery she-cat with ginger streaks. Mother of Drizzlekit (black and white she-kit with green eyes), and Squirrelkit (dusty brown tom with unusual lavender eyes)

**Elders:**  
Fangscar- White tom with amber eyes, the oldest in the Clan

**MistClan**

**Leader:**  
Hollystar- Tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes  
Apprentice: Stonepaw

**Deputy:**  
Mudtail- Dark brown tabby tom

**Medicine Cat:  
**Branchstripe- Dark grey tom with black stripes

**Warriors:**  
Featherspirit- White she-cat with grey patches  
Leafclaw- Dark brown tabby she-cat  
Apprentice: Fernpaw  
Webpelt- White tom  
Grassfur- Grey tabby tom with long fur  
Sloenose- Black she-cat with grey paws  
Apprentice: Streampaw

**Apprentices:**  
Stonepaw- Light grey tom  
Fernpaw- Silvery she-cat  
Streampaw- Blue-grey she-cat

**Queens:**  
Vixentail- Russet she-cat with a white tipped tail. Mother of Smoketail's kit, Cloudkit (fluffy white tom)  
Greybird- Dark grey she-cat with white "stockings". Mother of Webpelt's kit, Wolfkit (very light brown she-kit)

**Elders:**  
Smoketail- Light grey tom with green eyes, formerly deputy. Retired early due to crippling fight.

**EarthClan**

**Leader:**  
Boulderstar- Light brown tom

**Deputy:**  
Lionfur- Large golden tom  
Apprentice: Rabbitpaw

**Medicine Cat:  
**Brownfur- Dark brown tom with one white ear  
Apprentice: Lichenpaw

**Warriors:**  
Falconpelt- Slim grey and black she-cat  
Redflight- Dark ginger tom  
Seedfur- White she-cat with grey speckles  
Blacklight- Black tom with a white spot over one eye  
Flamestorm- Ginger she-cat with white tabby markings  
Rivershine- Silver she-cat  
Apprentice: Birdpaw  
Marshfur- Brown tom with scattered lighter patches  
Flintfur- Black tom with ginger marks down his sides  
Windfeather- White tom with green eyes

**Apprentices:**  
Rabbitpaw- Large brown she-cat with huge yellow eyes  
Lichenpaw- White tom with brown and black spots  
Birdpaw- Small black she-cat with white paws

**Queens:**  
Appleheart-russet she-cat, expecting Blacklight's kits

**Cats Outside the Clans**

Frostbreeze- Silvery she-cat with green eyes, formerly of MoonClan  
Blossomkit- Silver she-cat with one odd black paw and green eyes  
Shadowkit- Golden tabby tom with ice blue eyes and one odd black paw  
Shadowbird- Jet-black tom with shockingly amber eyes, formerly of FlameClan  
Angel- Brown and white tabby kittypet who lives just beyond EarthClan's territory  
Soot- Grey speckled tom with pale blue eyes

* * *

**Prologue  
They Were Born**

The time was calm. The cats of StarClan began to twinkle in the deep rose sky of sunset. The late sky loomed coldly in the distance as the air slowly began to turn from warm to cold, and its hue fire to charcoal.

But the atmosphere below, by a rushing, roaring river, was much different from the air of peace in the stars. A silver she-cat gazed hopelessly at an ebony tom. The dark-furred feline glared at the trembling female. Anger burned in the eyes of amber.

"Where are you going, Shadowbird?" croaked the heavy silver she-cat as she tried to haul herself to her paws. When she did, the long legs of the elegant she cat held her up like twigs.

"Away," the black tom replied, his jet-black fur bristling. Grey legs buckled, sending the swollen-bellied she-cat to the soft packed earth of the river bank.

"What? But—but why?" she panted, raising her narrow muzzle his way, "You can't leave me here—I'm about to have _your_ kits!"

"We never should have done this, Frostbreeze," hissed the tom. Light fear laced his growl.

Frostbreeze's green eyes stretched wide and she stopped talking. She angled her nose at her stomach and then back at him.

"Goodbye," the tom spat sharply, making Frostbreeze physically cringe. "I should never have broken the code, and if I did return to FlameClan after this..." the male swallowed and turned heel.

"Sh-shadowbird..." Frostbreeze whimpered, "Shadowbird... H-help me... Please?" the tom began to pad away from the churning rapids of the river.

"Save your breath, it would be better for them if they were never born at all!" hissed Shadowbird, turning his once-loving eyes back onto Frostbreeze.

The sky's flame burned out, leaving only the coal behind.

"Just think about it!" he spat shakily, "Who in their right mind would ever want to be a _half-breed_?"

"Shady..." Frostbreeze tumbled over her own words, "Shady, they _won't_ be 'half-breeds', no one is..."

"Frostbreeze, it just can't go on like this." Shadowbird mewed in monotone.

"It's too late to say that and you know it!"

Shadowbird took one long look at the kit-heavy she-cat with an ever so slight glint of longing in his eye.

The only noise the two could hear was the sound of the leaves rustled from the chilling leaf-fall winds.

"We can't go back, you know."

Frostbreeze glared at her mate, this time her grass colored eyes made Shadowbird flinch.

"My Clanmates will help me-"

"Not if they look like me then they won't." Shadowbird cut over, "Not if they're 'Adder-Faces' or 'Fire-Tails' or 'Grease-Pelts'... Like their dear old father."

Frostbreeze said nothing.

"Oh _sure_! They'd be just _fine_ if you went off with a Dirt-Eater, but you know. Just because I'm different, your clan hates the likes of me."

The silvery queen opened her mouth to counter, but nothing came out. She instead steered the topic back towards the point.

"Shade, you can't just leave me here like this!" the spooked silver she-cat squeaked. Her nose twitched.

"Oh yeah?" Shadowbird's voice cracked remorsefully, "Just watch me."

"Shady..." the black tom began to walk away once more.

"Shadowbird! Wait..."

The male slowed his pace only slightly.

"Shellclaw said that they're due today," her voice was hollow, "Please... I beg of you... Just be there for me... Be there for _them_..."

The cat stopped in his tracks.

"We need you more than ever, you know." Frostbreeze optimistic voice rang with sincerity.

Silence fell once again. The light grey she-cat held her breath.

"No you don't."

And with that, the night-colored cat was off, never to be seen again by the Queen.

Her long fur shone in the moonlight like stars.

After a long while, the she cat licked her belly with worry. She chuckled with faux laughter.

"And so, the Fire-Pelt is only but a coward."

The strength in her "joking" manner allowed her to summon her legs to hold her up.

Even walk awhile.

Her denial covered meows continued throughout the hours of darkness, mumbling to herself and kits. Phrases like;

"Oh, I can't wait until you meet your father!"

"Daddy's being silly. He's just hiding, don't be scared!"

"He'll be home by Sunhigh tomorrow, you see."

By the time she had found an abandoned badger-set, she lowered herself into the dark hole and prepared herself for her kits to arrive.

Her belly began to pulse with pain.

Before she began to cry out in the sheer agony that Frostbreeze knew awaited her, she yowled one last comprehendible thing.

"If Shady doesn't come back, then I'll just have to find him myself." she sang.

"After all, it's just a little game of hide-and-seek, right?"

And so the extremely painful process of kitting began. And as time went by, the pulsing pain in her belly became worse and worse.

_What would Skyheart think?_ Frostbreeze wondered, thinking about her own mother.

Thoughts suddenly racing through her head like a snowstorm

_And what about Foxstar? Shellclaw? _Frostbreeze began to focus on her thoughts when the most excruciating piece of the process happened.

Kit number one was on its way.

_I bet that I'd just be thrown out of MoonClan if I explained myself, _she thought sadly.

Gasping in pain, a sleek silver bundle fell into the dirt that lined the badger set.

With a lightning-fast reaction, she broke the kitting sack and licked at the kit's fur.

_I _could_ let them just die..._ she told herself darkly in between licks. _Maybe _that _would bring Shadowbird back..._

A shrill mew cut at the air. The warrior shook her head violently in an attempt to get rid of all of the bad thoughts in her mind. This one was alive and breathing- she should be thankful for that.

"At least this one's healthy…" Frostbreeze muttered from exhaustion, trying to be happy about the situation.

A second spasm of pain erupted within her- giving her no time to think about what had just happened- and a second kit was born.

The golden kit's veil was split open with less hurry than the last. It also took the kit longer to respond to Frostbreeze's rough, pink tongue.

When the two kits were settled, scrambling through the soft earth of their new home towards their mother, the queen's heart melted.

"Should I even name you?" Frostbreeze wondered out loud, taking a paw and coaxing her children in the direction of her stomach.

The grey kit mewed and nuzzled her mother's belly.

Frostbreeze blinked with an underwhelming surprise when she realized that both kits had one black paw each, both the same color of Shadowbird's fur.

Turning the kits over she found what gender they each were. The two cried out in protest when she did, but she needed to know what she should name them.

The moon grey kit turned out to be a female, and the sun yellow one a male.

Frostbreeze sighed with both regret and wonder. How could these kits be both painful and beautiful?

Like a rose, these kits had their thorns...

But in the end, taking the flower had been worth it.

It was decided, she _had_ to name them.

"Fine. You are Blossomkit," she told the grey newborn, touching the she-kit's forehead with her own nose.

"And you are Shadowkit," she said to the tom, repeating the same process she did with his sister.

She had always loved those names.

Then she sighed to herself, "I'm sorry, Shadowbird, but they were born."

She looked down at the two longingly.

"But I promise to love them for the both of us."

Three moons had passed since Shadowkit and Blossomkit were born, and they were thriving, even without a Clan's help.

Still in the same old badger-set and the same old clearing, a mother cat blinked open her eyes when sunlight filtered in. Snow now blanketed the landscape, the purity of it all was there for all to see.

Leafbare was always both cruel and beauteous to Frostbreeze, much like she thought of her own kits, but the usual light in her green eyes were gone today.

Perhaps it was that she was still awaking, or maybe it was just the type of day.

Young Blossomkit and Shadowkit were used to these days.

Thankfully, they weren't awake just yet. It killed them to see their mother with such sorrow.

"Wake up, young ones," cooed Frostbreeze after staring outside of the den for awhile, thinking of Shadowbird like she usually did. Being unusually depressed, she made a plan of the outing they'd go out to today.

"Today I'm taking you to see the river."

"The river?" squeaked Blossomkit with a start, her eyes matching her mother's flew open, "As in _the_ river?"

"What other rivers do we know of, mousebrain?" mumbled Shadowkit sleepily. His physical appearance matched Shadowbird's (when excluding his golden fur and light blue eyes), which was very unlike his sister, his personality also had early signs of being similar as well.

"Now, now, Shadowkit, don't call your sister names," Frostbreeze mewed to the two kits.

"Sorry," Shadowkit muttered. The weaker kit stretched his jaws into a yawn and rose himself to his paws.

"That's okay!" Blossomkit forgave immediately, her eyes bright. "We get to see the river!"

"Yes, so come along," said Frostbreeze pleasantly yet hastily as they set off on what the kits called a 'journey.'

It took them about five minutes to get to the river. It was huge, crashing its powerful waves on the grass. The kits couldn't get enough of it.

"Wow," whispered Shadowkit.

"It's HUGE!" cried Blossomkit, trembling with excitement.

Frostbreeze, watching her kits, took a deep breath. Her kits, as she knew, had no idea why they had been so suddenly allowed to go to such a place. All their lives they had been forbidden from the water's edge.

But she had to do it. Send them on their way, while she joined her long lost mate.

"Shadowkit, Blossomkit, listen carefully," the silver she-cat called. The two kits sprang up to their mother and cocked their heads to one side. The way the two had mimicked each other so perfectly that it made her laugh.

The first real laugh she had had in moons.

Returning to her seriousness, she looked at both kits directly in the eye.

Doing this would remove all proof possible that they were Half-Clan.

Their lives would be happier if she left them doing this. They would forget in time.

But she would always remember.

"You won't be seeing me for a long time." she mewed as sweetly as she could while keeping her tone best she could. "It is time I joined StarClan."

"What's StarClan?" whispered Blossomkit to her brother who shrugged. Though the way their mother was speaking was beginning to frighten them.

"Blossomkit, head that way," she said, flicking her tail toward what she knew to be the FlameClan border, home of her father. "And do not fear the fire, it shall not harm you."

"But why, mother?" whispered Blossomkit.

"Just go, please. It'll be another adventure," mewed Frostbreeze with a fake grin.

"But I don't wanna..." the Frostbreeze look-alike pouted, "I'm too tired!"

"Just do it!" hissed Frostbreeze fiercely. Blossomkit jumped and dashed in the direction, struggling in the snow.

"And Shadowkit, go over the river on that log. You will be safe there."

"But I can't balance," he whined, but when Frostbreeze bared her teeth at him and hissed, he leapt on the log and started inching his way across, his fluffy golden fur spiked up in fear.

When both of her kits were out of sight, Frostbreeze gazed at the river, her reflection in the river was distorted by the rippling took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry so, Shadowbird," she whispered after a long time of staring.

"They were born. But they are safe now."

Something in the back of her mind begged her not to- saying that her beloved Shadowbird was alive elsewhere.

She licked her shoulder to distract herself.

_No, Frostbreeze. This is _final_. Shadowbird _must _be dead... Shadowbird couldn't possibly live without his clan helping him along the way..._

Taking one last look at the world around her. The snow was surprising thick for early leafbare. The clouds dotting the sky were dark and dreary, much resembling the thoughts that raced through her mind.

After this, she'd never see Shellclaw, Foxstar, or anyone ever again...

On the other paw, she'd be living happily ever after with her mate once more.

_The kits will be fine_. She told herself firmly when she asked herself to check on them for one last look.

They would never get a proper goodbye.

Gritting her teeth, she flung her head toward to gloomy stars.

"I'm coming. I'm coming, Shadowbird!" she cried.

She took a deep breath and leapt into the icy river. Her lungs screamed for air as beads of air spilled out of her mouth. As the time rolled by for the queen like a snail, her heartbeat grew slower, and slower still.

Until it finally stopped.

The drenched body of Frostbreeze, warrior of MoonClan, mate to Shadowbird, and mother of two kits, rose to the surface and drifted lazily along the river.

* * *

**So, here's another note:**

**This story is beginning to be edited one more time starting right now! 2013!**

**Now that I'm a grade older than I once was, my co-author and I have decided that it's now time for an update.**

**If you are a fan of the "scratch" version, let me assure you that nothing major will change! We'll just fix these chapters so they're up to speed with our current writing abilities.**

**Hope you enjoy, both older fans and newcomers!**


	2. Chapter One: Blossomkit

**Updated chapter one, finally!**

* * *

Blossomkit wandered along the forest, shivering as she placed each small silver paw down in the snow. She wondered why her mother had asked her to go this way. She had certainly never hissed at her before!

Quivering, her fluffy pelt slowly began to grow icicles. Green eyes flickered right and then left, very anxious to find a sign of safety.

The grey clouds dotted the sky as heavily as stones in a river's bed, each one poured light snowflakes that measured to be about the size of Blossomkit's nose. occasionally, the kit would poke at her paws with her nose in order to keep them moving, much like her mother would when they were out hunting for too long.

_When I'm done with this adventure, can some cat point me in the way of StarClan? _Blossomkit asked herself, _It can't be far, right? I mean, mom was right next to the river when she said..._

An orange flame crackled loudly and snapped, making Blossomkit get back to what she was doing. Heat resonated from the fire's tips. Sparks flew from the ends like shooting stars.

Blinking, Blossomkit remembered a story her mother had once told her, a couple of moons ago...

_"Seasons ago, back when I was your age, cats had attacked my home." Frostbreeze had started, evading the use of the word 'warrior' wherever she could, "But not just any cats; cats that could live through fire."_

_"What's a fir?" young Shadowkit had asked sleepily, "Sounds nice."_

_"No, not nice!" Frostbreeze corrected her smaller kit, "Fire can take cats away forever. You never see them again."_

The bright colored heat reared forward in the icy winter wind. Blossomkit squeaked out of fear and struggled backward, tail in between her twig-thin legs until she was (hopefully) out of its reach.

_"Get back to the story already!" mewed Blossomkit impatiently, "I wanna hear Mama's story!"_

_"Alright, alright, keep your fur on," chuckled Frostbreeze, "So anyway, these cats came with their tails lit on fire! They ran through the cam- I mean, _home_ and everything was soon covered it it!"_

_"But you jus' said tha' cats get taken away by fir," Shadowkit struggled to murmur, still new to talking, "Why do these stay?"_

_"These cats can withstand fire for as long as..." Frostbreeze stopped for a second, "As long as it takes for the sun to rise in the morning."_

_"And then they get taken away, right?" the ever-curious Blossomkit pried, worried that these cats would come after her._

_"Yes," Frostbreeze answered, wanting to continue her story, "So anyway, the cats had us all surrounded, and my family was cornered. Not even_ I _was safe. No one is when the fearless Fire Cats attack."_

_"So what happened next?" Shadowkit mumbled._

_"A tom came from the Fire group circling us and got me out of there." Frostbreeze answered dreamily, "But my brothers Shellkit and Foxkit weren't safe. I was one lucky cat."_

_"So, where did he take you?" Blossomkit mewed._

_"Well, he _tried _to get me out of the fire, but my mother wouldn't have any of that. Nope, Skyheart was a Cat of the Moon, through and through, and was _not _about to let a Fire Cat get away with me."  
_

_"And _then_...?"_

_"The tom tossed me to my mother and told us to run," Frostbreeze continued, "And that's just what Skyheart did. Ran."_

The kit's green eyes slammed shut when she decided to turn tail and dart away from the pyre. She'd do just as Skyheart had done. Run. The fire wouldn't take her to wherever it brought cats today! She wouldn't let it!

After a short while, she realized that the heat was still behind her, in fact, it was growing in the dried bracken. Daring to turn around, she found that she wasn't running at all. After further inspection, she found out that she was going nowhere fast- her paws were merely running in place on a black sheet of ice.

Barreling over to one side, she wanted to begin sprinting again, but something stopped her from doing so. Like a force was keeping her still.

Her mother's voice echoed in her frozen ears when her paws slowed to a stop.

"_Do not fear the fire, it shall not harm you,"_ she whispered.

What had become of Frostbreeze now? Was she well in her new home she had called "StarClan"? When would she be back?

What about Shadowkit? Where did he go? Was he with Mom? She hoped so...

Needless to say, she was confused.

A light rustling sounded behind her. Whipping around as fast as her uncoordinated kit body could, she spotted to amber eyes blinking at her presence. Frightened out of her wits, she felt like her paws had actually frozen her paws to the ground. It took her a couple moments that the creatures were _inside_ of the roaring flames. Their eyes seemed to blend in better than most.

Then, it hit her.

Were these those dreaded Fire Cats she had heard so much about?

Her heart became an anxious bird.

A white paw poked out of the flames. Blossomkit's shivering became more defined.

A huge, snow-colored tom leapt out of the flames after the paw and glared down at the kit with his orange eyes. His eyes seemed to see into her soul.

"Ooh, look, Whitescar, it's a kit!" purred a voice from behind him, who sounded like a female. A second cat leapt out of the fire with lightheartedness rather than in attempting intimidation. She was the color of coal, and rather small. She had amber eyes too, but a light in hers assured Blossomkit that she was friendly.

"I noticed, Ebonyflight," growled the big white tom, trying to scare the kit even further. "I also have noticed that it looks rather... Sickly. It won't survive for long."

Blossomkit kept her mouth clamped shut, even if she was clearly a _she_.

"What are you saying?" challenged Ebonyflight, standing in Blossomkit's way as to barricade her.

"I'm saying we should put it out of its misery," hissed the tom, unsheathing his thorn claws. Ebonyflight stole a swift glance at the trembling she-kit. Her eyes grew more soft than they had already did.

The light furred tom had begun to bare his teeth and spike the fur along his spine.

"Smells like a rogue," he growled cautiously, "I believe that its out _duty_ to put it out of its misery. It wouldn't even survive two days in FlameClan."

"This kit is a _she_, Whitescar." Ebonyflight barked back, returning Whitescar's gesture, "And give her a chance! Maybe she could learn to live-"

Whitescar charged past her and snatched Blossomkit by the scruff. She was flung up harshly, making her feel like her ribs had been jingling around within her like a kit chasing a berry. She didn't dare make a sound.

Ebonyflight gasped.

"Whitescar! Let go! We usually get rid of rouge kits who are on our land, but please just let her go!" she cried.

Whitescar turned away and begun to swing Blossomkit back and forth. At first it was soothing, but then it became violent.

The silvery kit allowed herself a shriek.

"No!" howled Ebonyflight when Whitescar unlatched his teeth. Blossmkit saw her world fly by in slow motion, the snowy ground was but a soft light coloring. As the flames grew closer, the snow became less and less.

Entering the flame, the kit was swallowed by her paws, then tail, then her head...

Until she crashed onto the ground with a jarring _thud_.

_Where is the fire going to take me?_ Blossomkit whimpered to herself as the orange embers engulfed her entirely.

A surprised mew sounded from both of the adult cats.

The flames took her nowhere.

Her eyes opened carefully, hoping that the pyre wouldn't burn them. After a moment or two, she realized that she was still sitting on the same, bracken strewn ground. And the best part was- she wasn't hurting. All she felt was a warm, pleasant, tingle. It almost reminded her of Frostbreeze's soft silver pelt.

All that happened to Blossomkit was an urge to cough the smoke out of her lungs.

But that could only mean one thing...

_Am I a _Fire Cat_? _she questioned herself in awe, _Oh wait until Shadowkit hears about this!_

The faces of the two older cats were still struck with shock.

"She's alive! It's not effecting her!" Ebonyflight cheered with glee, "Oh Whitescar, she must be one of us!" cried Ebonyflight suddenly and joyfully.

"She must," whispered Whitescar with disbelief. Slowly his stern eyes fell onto Blossomkit's one jet black paw, the color of shadows.

"Her paw!" he exclaimed. "It's the same color as Shadowbird!"

"How do you know that, Smarty-Paws?" Ebonyflight meowed with skepticism, "There are a lot of black cats. What, is there a difference between black and... Well, black?"

"No, what I'm trying to say is that this kit," Whitescar flicked his tail in Blossomkit's direction, "Could be Shadowbird's!"

"But you can't _possibly _know for sure-"

"Ebonyflight, you don't get it!" Whitescar cut over, "Shadowbird left three moons ago, so..."

Blossmkit looked back and forth between the arguing cats with annoyance plastered on her small face.

_Who _cares_ who my dad is! _Blossomkit twitched her nose, _I never met him, but why is he so important?_

Ebonyflight gasped, making Blossomkit tune back in. "It's his kit, Shadowbird's kit! We must bring her back to camp at once!"

The white warrior approached Blossomkit once more. The silver kit cringed and backed off deeper into the glow hoping it would provide some barrier. When the young cat had stolen a glance at Whitescar's eyes, she calmed herself. He was no longer trying to get rid of her. He crouched down to her level so that his eyes met hers easily.

"Tell us, little one, where were you born?" Whitescar mewed softly. He patiently awaited an answer.

Blinking, Blossomkit thought about where she lived.

"The Den,"

Ebonyflight and Whitescar burst into laughter of her response. Blossomkit felt rage build up inside her- these cats weren't taking her very seriously at all!

"Hey, what's so funny?" she chirped, taking a pawstep forward.

"N-nothing, sweetie," Ebonyflight sputtered.

"She really does have some of Shadowbird in her blood, doesn't she?" Whitescar purred.

Blossomkit stuck up her fur in a feeble attempt to intimidate the two and puffed out the freezing cold fur on her chest. The laughter eventually died down.

"But she needs a name," said Whitescar thoughtfully, getting back up to his usual stance.

"Silverkit, because she's silver?" Ebonyflight suggested, approaching the kit, "Or Snowkit, 'cause we found her in the snow?"

"No, no, it must be perfect, this is Shadowbird's kit after all," said Whitescar.

Ebonyflight looked like her stomach had randomly began aching. _She_ had seemed to think that they were good names.

"Well then, _you _think of something, if you're so clever!"

"No no no!" Whitescar spluttered, "You _know _that I'm terrible with names!"

"Yeah, like that time you told Gingermoon to name her daughter 'Sneezekit'."

"Shut up!"

Blossomkit opened her mouth in objection- she _already _had a name. She didn't need a new one.

Ebonyflight's warm colored gaze lit up.

"Oh! How 'bout Brightkit, 'cause her fur is so bright!"

Blossomkit blinked. _Well, if they're going to rename me, so be it. I'm too tired to care right now, anyways. _She snuggled into the fire and had curled up her tongue in a yawn.

_I mean, its not like this name is forever, right?_

Whitescar and Ebonyflight's hearts seemed to melt. The grey kit tried to ignore the stares.

I _think I'll take a nap and wait for Frostbreeze and Shadowkit to come back for me…_ She closed her eyes.

"Brightkit is perfect! I love it! Perfect for a kit of Shadowbird," remarked Whitescar, looking back at the newly named Brightkit.

"Aw…" purred Ebonyflight, for the little silver kit had fallen asleep in the within the fire, her tiny flanks rising and falling steadily, but with the occasional shaky breath.

Lifting up the drowsy kitten, the two warriors bounded away from the border-marker fire and got to their home faster than lightning striking a tree. On the way there, however, the tiny cat had fallen fast asleep, so she did not see the trail that lead to the two's home.

When Brightkit awoke, she found a silver cat in front of her. Two kits slightly bigger than she, one black-and-white, one dusty brown, squirmed next to her. Her heart lifted.

_Milk! It must be Frostbreeze!_

But when the she cat looked up, Brightkit's ears drooped. This mother cat had ginger streaks on her silver fur.

_Not Frostbreeze at all..._

"Brightkit! You've woken up!" she purred. Her round green eyes were warm but didn't resemble her mother's that much. Her mother's eyes were narrow and had more of a soothing look to them. Reluctantly, Brightkit politely mewed back in response.

"My name isn't Brightkit, it's Blossomkit," The other cat didn't seem to hear her.

"I'm Gingermoon," she introduced herself carefully, "And these are your new littermates, Drizzlekit..."

_Hey, isn't that the same kit that Whitescar suggested the name 'Sneezekit'? _Blossomkit giggled to herself.

"... and Squirrelkit."

Brightkit cocked her head, ending her humorous thought. What happened to Frostbreeze and Shadowkit?

"Where am I?" she chirped anxiously.

"FlameClan," replied Gingermoon. "This is your true home."

_Right, so Fire Cat Land._

Brightkit, still confused, tipped her head, but had one of the other kits interrupt her thoughts. Drizzlekit, her black-and-white fur flashing, leapt up.

"Let's play moss-ball!" she cried.

"Yeah!" yelled Squirrelkit with the same amount of enthusiasm. And at that, Brightkit was swept out of the nursery into her new world.

Her new, smoke-scented home

* * *

**How'd you like? I think that its much better!**


	3. Chapter Two: Shadowkit

**This took me SO long to edit... But eh, it was worth it.**

* * *

Tiny Shadowkit had finally made his way away from the rushing river, and though this was a huge accomplishment for him, he couldn't help but have several things cloud his conscious at once.

_Where's Mama?_

_Where's Blossomkit?_

Shadowkit abruptly quit his weaving through the pine-filled wasteland.

_... Did the Fire Cats get them?_

Shadowkit flicked his ears and turned his golden head in all directions to listen for his family.

Nothing but the winter breeze could be heard through the dense wood.

His tired blue eyes glazed with worry. Trying to lift a dainty paw once more to continue his once steady trek, he slumped to the ground. Puffs of snowflakes flew from his small golden body when he connected to the frozen solid earth.

_Ack! I can't feel my paws!_

Bristling his fluffy pelt, he tried to thrust himself upward, only to find his face right back into the bright flurry. His black nose twitched in both annoyance and anxiety.

_Come on, Shadowkit!_ he thought to himself desperately. _Mama said there was safety beyond the river!_

Willing his paws to move once again, he prepared his final gambit. Putting a couple more steps forward, he had collapsed once more.

Now, his fur now dark from the snowmelt, he lay twitching helplessly in the snow. He rolled onto his back, exposing his soft belly to the sky in an attempt to claim the ground again. This proved futile.

"Help!" he pitifully mewed to anyone near, knowing that this was less than likely. "Please, someone help me!"

As expected, no one came. Curling into a tight ball, he became roughly the size of a stone. With the blizzarding winds, the young kit truly felt like one. The clouds broke apart, allowing Shadowkit a glimpse of the setting sun. The usually blue sky became lit ablaze with warm yellows and pinks. He felt an odd security echoing from its presence.

He remembered the way Frostbreeze had talked to him when he had first opened his eyes.

_"Oh, Shadowkit!" she had gasped with happiness, "You've opened your eyes! You've _opened _your _eyes_!" _

_Shadowkit gave his eyes a blink. The colors of his badger set world seemed to overwhelm him with mere shades of green and brown._

_"And look!" Blossomkit squeaked, having opened her eyes three days prior, "They're blue! What didja say 'bout blue eyes?"_

_"Cats of the Moon born with blue eyes are said to have good luck," Frostbreeze purred, "And look, here we are! My little Shadowkit with his new blue eyes!"_

_"Tell us the story about Gorsefur and the Fox again, Mama!" Blossomkit had demanded, "He had blue eyes, right?"_

_Shadowkit nodded, looking to his mother with curiosity. He wanted to see just how useful blue eyes (whatever blue was)._

_"Oh yes, of course!" Frostbreeze mewed. Nuzzling Blossomkit, she took a breath to begin yet another one of her stories._

_"Tell us, then!" Shadowkit growled with an air of impatience. He had never heard of this story, mainly because he was asleep far more often than his sister._

_"Okay, okay!" Frostbreeze sputtered, having an odd habit of putting off stories, "I'll get started, then!"_

_Sitting with a _thump _on the leaf-fall leaves she had collected the previous day. She opened her mouth to begin her story._

_"Once, there was a brave cat in the forest of the Moon Cats," Frostbreeze began._

_"Braver than Shadowbird?" Blossomkit interrupted, "He's a legend!" _

_"No, not quite," Frostbreeze answered, "But nonetheless, he was brave."_

_Clearing her throat, she began again._

_"Gorsefur and Skyheart- you've heard of her, Blossomkit- were trying to sniff out if Fogbound Cats had set paw in the land of Moon Cats. Not likely, but it could happen."_

_"'Cause only crazy cats mess with Cats of the Moon!" Shadowkit cheered._

_"Right, so anyway, they were looking to see if trouble was afoot. But instead of finding a sleek-furred Foggy, they found a horrible creature called a fox!"_

_"What's a fox?" questioned Blossomkit worriedly. She didn't like it when her mother brought up monsters in her many stories._

_"A fox is a fire-red dog that acts like a cat!" Frostbreeze replied, gnashing her teeth for affect. Her two kits leapt back in fright._

_"Mama, stop!" whimpered Shadowkit, "You're scaring me!"_

_"Sorry, Shady," Frostbreeze meowed, "I get a little carried away sometimes."_

_"You're telling me," Blossomkit whispered to her brother. Frostbreeze didn't hear._

_"So anyway, they found a big scary fox! It was even bigger than me!"_

_Frostbreeze reared up on her haunches to wordlessly explain the size._

_"Woah," Blossomkit breathed, mouth agape, "That's big..."_

_"So Gorsefur told Skyheart to run, since she was going to be a mama soon."_

_"What's that mean?"_

_"I'll tell you later."_

_"Get on with it!"_

_"So when Skyheart had gotten back home, Gorsefur had begun his fight with the scary, hairy, fox. He ducked, he rolled, he bit its ear!_

_... But the fox wouldn't back off. Not one bit."_

_"So how did he win?" Shadowkit pondered._

_"He didn't,"_

_"What? Cats of the Moon _never _lose!" Blossmkit protested, "Mama, make it so he won!"_

_"No, little one," Frostbreeze answered, "Not all battles can be won, but all things have a solution."_

_"So what happened next?" Shadowkit asked._

_"Gorsefur did what he could- he jumped into a juniper berry bush!"_

_"How did that help anything?"_

_"Why do you kits ask so many questions? I was getting to it!"_

_"Sorry,"_

_"Okay, so he jumped into the juniper berry bush. Juniper berries are blue, so they helped hide his eyes. He became invisible!"_

_"What's in-bis-zible?" questioned Shadowbird._

_"It means that Gorsefur couldn't be seen by the fox at all. And sense Moon Cat Land is full of juniper berry bushes, cats with blue eyes born there are graced with good luck. And when the rest of the Moon Cats came to rescue Gorsefur thanks to Skyheart, they couldn't find him because the berries made him smell different!" _

_"So, what happened next?"_

_"Gorsefur went home, Blossmkit."_

_"So the fox didn't show up again?"_

_"Nope, but it _did _lose a tooth from a well aimed swipe from Snowfeather. Wha-POW!"_

Shadowkit began to feel an ache in his heart, which was odd because the rest of him was numb from the cold.

_Its so cold... _Shadowkit whimpered to himself, giving a chilled sneeze, _S-so c-cold..._

Shadowkit sniffed fearfully. He didn't like a new feeling he was getting.

_M-mama..._

His sights of white were engulfed in black.

The darkness lasted long enough for the snow to cloak his entire body.

:*~*~*:

Shadowkit awoke with a start. He scanned the area that surrounded him but as he did he felt very safe, even though this was not his abandoned badger set with Frostbreeze. The walls of grey caressed him warmly. He wondered if any other cats could feel this way underneath a caved roof. His head still spun from confusion.

"See?" meowed a voice above him triumphantly, even the excitement bounced off of the rocky, ragged walls. "He wasn't dead after all!"

Shadowkit whipped his head around to see a broad-shouldered she-cat. His eyes widened when he recognized this cat from one of the last lores his mother had told him.

_Is he... A Cat of the Moon? _he thought to himself fearfully.

"Where do you suppose he came from?" questioned a second voice, this time from a young black-and-grey tom.

"By the look of it, here," said a smoky-grey tom. "Just look at those paws— they're as big as ours!"

"What? No way-"

"Yes! His paws have grown right on schedule!" a new voice chimed in knowingly.

Shadowkit stared at the other three, wondering where he was. Not knowing if he was safe or not, he kept quiet. Suddenly a fourth cat rushed into the den. She looked younger and smaller than the others. She kept running right in to the den until she was nose-to-nose with Shadowkit. Her light pink nose greatly contrasted his sable one.

Under further inspection, Shadowkit realized that she was slightly smaller than himself.

"Hiya! Glad to see you're finally awake, sleepy head!" she mewed in a cheerful, uplifting voice. The golden tom flinched at the noise. When he opened his eyes again, he spotted an even fluffier kitten than Blossomkit. She sported ginger patches over top her ashen fur. Her blue eyes were tinted a darker blue than his.

"Waterkit!" hissed the broad-shouldered she-cat. "What are you doing here?"

"Just visiting the new cat, that's all. Why are you so pushy all of a sudden, mama?" mewed Waterkit indignantly when 'Mama' started walking her way hurriedly. Waterkit flattened her ears and backed away from the tom-kit as quickly a the mother came.

"Excuse me," mewed Shadowkit, looking after the retreating she-kit, "but can some cat please tell me where I am?"

The grey and black tom jumped in surprise, though he didn't know why. The smoky grey cat glared at him. There was an uncomfortable silence.

"You're in MoonClan's medicine cat den, silly!" piped up Waterkit, sidestepping her mother. The golden tom-cat blinked absently. Clearly, he was missing something.

"What she means," said the knowledgeable grey tom, "is that you have been taken in by us, MoonClan, and we fixed you up while you were unconscious. My name is Shellclaw."

Shadowkit tipped his head to one side. What sort of a name is Shellclaw?

_Maybe this is another Cat of the Moon... Could he possibly be the 'Shellkit' Mama had mentioned?_

Shadowkit held his tongue for a second longer.

_... Probably not. The names are very different._

"What's your name?" wondered Waterkit after flicking his ear with her tail.

"Shadowkit," he mewed. They all stiffened, though he had no idea why.

"Why do you look so surprised?" he mewed, even more confused than when he woke up.

The grey and black tom coughed uncomfortably.

"Got a cold?" Shadowkit mewed innocently, "That's too bad."

"There was once a cat named Shadowbird," Shellclaw began.

_The Legendary fighting master!_

"He was of FlameClan." he tried to explain.

_Mama called him a Fire Cat, but whatever._

Waterkit's mother picked up from there, Shellclaw was too sad to continue speaking.

"He drowned our finest warrior, Frostbreeze. We found her body drifting in the river," Waterkit's mother meowed gravely. "Shadowbird's scent wasn't found, but he had been seen with her three moons ago."

"The words they exchanged weren't exactly 'friendly'," the grey and black tom finished.

"Wait, _what _exactly happened to my mother?" Shadowkit cried in dismay. _Killed by _the _Shadowbird himself__? _he added silently.

"You were right, Shellclaw! He is a MoonClan cat after all!" cried the soot-and-shade tom.

"Pebblefall, don't be so insensitive!" roared the she-cat, "Frostbreeze was my closest friend... And apparently she was this young one's mama!"

The golden tom remained as speechless as a predawn.

"Well ex_cuse _me, Mosspool!" countered Pebblefall, "I didn't realize that gaining a new Clanmate was a bad thing!"

"That still gives you no right to ignore Frostbreeze like that!"

"What does 'drowned' mean!?" yelled Shadowkit in a panicky squeal, "Tell me!"

"It means she joined StarClan, young warrior." Shellclaw answered carefully, "That means... She's dead. And she won't be coming back to MoonClan anytime soon."

_She's... Gone?_

The tabby couldn't even open his mouth. Grief slowly poured into his chest.

"We're going to have to do something about that horrid name of yours, since it sounds to close to _his_." Pebblefall explained, "How about 'Sunkit', because of your golden fur?"

Sunkit solemly nodded, numb as he was in the snow a while back.

"I think it's great." squeaked Sunkit in monotone. He would have hated to know that Shadowbird, a cat that he had never met, had actually murdered his mother and he himself would carry on this murderer's name.

All he knew is that if he ever found Shadowbird...

He'd be ready.

A new name, with a new life—this was as good as it was going to get. He would grow up in the Clan his wonderful mother, Frostbreeze, did. Just without the Shadowbird part, he hoped.

"C'mon!" mewed Waterkit, her white and ginger pelt shimmering in the sun's rays. "I'll show you around the camp!"

The twosome left the den. As they entered the camp, Sunkit's body was cloaked in the harsh light and an astonishing sight met his eyes.

He couldn't help but feel a new light sear through him. Though Shadowbird had gotten his mother and most likely Blossomkit, he felt a safeguard surround him.

When he had walked out to the stone's ridged edge, he felt a joy unlike no other.

He'd see them in StarClan, wherever that was.

* * *

**Chapter Two, edit!**


	4. Chapter Three: Brightkit

**Chapter Three!**

* * *

The sun beat down on the snow and the ice like a stone to water, making the whole camp dazzle with shimmering white gleams. Brightkit stopped and stared around with her green eyes, squinting just a bit to filter out the sun and firelight.

She eyed a fox colored she-cat rolling over with a dark grey tom while several other young cats watched with delight. A dusty brown tom picked up a limp adder from a pile of small creatures. And by a big den across the camp stood Ebonyflight and Whitescar. It all looked so peaceful in the eyes of the kit. She and Shadowkit rarely got to play- they were almost always finding escape routes or watching their mother hunt whenever the left the walls of their warm, dark den. She closed her eyes and began to purr softly at the site of the many cats in their joyous play.

"Brightkit! You're awake!" called Ebonyflight, racing across the clearing to meet the kit. Whitescar followed too, trying to hide a smile. Brightkit got to her paws and blinked. She was not used to her new name yet, so the name felt wrong in her ears. Shaking it off, she faced the black she-cat.

"Hi," squeaked Brightkit. The fox colored she-cat and the raptor-feather brown tom trotted over to Brightkit. The silvery she-kit pricked up her ears and (with a merry face) looked over at the two new arrivals.

"Who's the new kit?" snapped the red she-cat in quite the opposite tone Brightkit was expecting. Ebonyflight's fire-orange eyes flickered in surprise as well by the tone, though her body language said otherwise. Like she was used to the behavior.

"Another mouth for us to feed," the brown tom answered as he shook his broad head condescendingly. Closely behind the two, a white figure appeared. He was far bigger than the two below him. They didn't seem to notice him. His shadow casted over the his tail and the grass near it.

_Thank goodness, it Whitescar!_ Brightkit sighed silently.

"Foxpaw, Eaglepaw, that's no way to treat _Shadowbird's_ kit," scolded Whitescar, making the two young cats spring to their paws. What surprised Brightkit was that they didn't say a word about him startling them.

_He must have a lot of respect around here, then._ Brightkit reasoned.

"Shadowbird?" said Eaglepaw, tipping his head to one side, flattening the fur on his shoulders. Foxpaw did the same.

"But he went missing _three moons_ ago!" cried Foxpaw, stealing a glance at Brightkit with an air of disbelief.

"That- that's not possible!" Eaglepaw stuttered.

"Look at her paw," meowed Ebonyflight excitedly. "It's the _exact_ color of his fur!"

Eaglepaw and Foxpaw looked at Brightkit's paw, then at each other. Foxpaw rolled her eyes.

"Doesn't prove _anything_." she concluded, "So, who cares? Just another mewling scrap of fur, probably a rouge's. Besides, it's already one in a million chance that she really _is_ Shadowbird's."

Brightkit felt her heart sink to the pit of her stomach. Foxpaw looked like she conquered the world.

"Come on, Eaglepaw, let's go hunting."

Eaglepaw hissed when the two ran off. Brightkit was numb with both shock and unsureness.

"Haven't those two ever heard of _faith_?" Ebonyflight demanded.

"Don't be hurt by their words," said Whitescar, trying to cheer up the frightened kit. "They consider themselves Clan leaders of any cats who are younger than them, but in truth they are only the youngest apprentices."

"They also are very resentful towards newcomers," Ebonyflight added, "Remember when Drizzlekit and Squirrelkit were born? Sheesh! Talk about mean!"

Brightkit felt more lighthearted at the two older cat's comments. But one question lingered in her mind.

"What's an apprentice?" she asked out loud.

Ebonyflight laughed. "You have a lot to learn about the Clans, young one!"

Brightkit looked around her as cats began to emerge from dens around the camp's edge, yawning and looking curiously at Brightkit. They all smelled of reptiles and smoke.

The kit spotted a majestic looking black tom stalking through the crowd. Cats stepped back as he passed. The cat's eyes were closed the whole time he placed paw after paw in front of him. He had a broad head and narrow muzzle, which was grizzled and shined with a tint of silver that was even brighter than Frostbreeze's own grey coat. His head bobbed as he walked.

"Who's he?" whispered Brightkit, intimidated by the night colored cat.

"That's Darkstar," said Squirrelkit, having appeared from the flaming nursery when most of the cats had arisen for the morning.

"FlameClan's leader," Drizzlekit explained. She had followed her brother outside.

"He rules everything!"

"He's mean."

"And strict."

"And black."

"Like the night!"

"His eyes are silver."

"Isn't that creepy?"

"No cat's eyes are silver!"

"Except for his."

"He doesn't like kits."

"Here he comes—we'd better hide!"

Drizzlekit dashed behind a rock and Squirrelkit hid behind the fresh-kill pile that Brightkit had seen earlier.

_What's all the fuss?_ wondered Brightkit. _Most of_ _the cats I've known are nice. They must be mistaken._

Drizzlekit gave Brightkit a look that seemed to translate to "_Are_ _you _crazy_?! He'll slice and dice you up!"_

Fearfully, she turned and saw Darkstar looming over her. Her eyes stared into his and her heart flipped over.

_Silver. His eyes are_ silver_. Just like Drizzlekit and Squirrelkit said!_

Brightkit gulped and tried to sink into the ground as those silver eyes stared into her soul. Crouching down, she whispered a "Hi,".

Darkstar's eyes showed nothing but disapproval.

"So... You're the kit? _You_?" He turned to Whitescar. "_This_ scrap of fur?"

Brightkit's eyes widened.

_That's what Foxpaw and Eaglepaw said!_

"Yes, Darkstar," replied Whitescar, bowing his head in respect.

_Why bow to him?_ the petrified kit screamed silently, _He's just a big, mean, scary-paws!_

"Hmm." Darkstar got down low until he was down to eye level with the three-moon old kit. The same cold look lingered, but it was intensified.

Brightkit held her breath.

Bolting back up, Darkstar snarled with disgust. He turned tail, which was flicking angrily. "Whitescar, Maplestep, border patrol with Duskpaw," He stalked away, not saying anything more to the youngest kit.

_D-did he just _ignore _me? _Brightkit sniffed, _Maybe I'm not big and tough _now _but Mama said-_

"Goodbye, Brightkit!" called Whitescar, breaking her thought, before walking away with a ginger and white she-cat that Brightkit guessed had to be Maplestep. Drizzlekit and Squirrelkit darted out of there hiding places and ran up to Brightkit.

"See! Isn't he scary?" shivered Drizzlekit.

"Like… a ghost!" said Squirrelkit dramatically. His fur smelled like dead snakes.

"You're crazy!"

"Am I?"

"Yes. Who's ever heard of a black ghost?"

"I have."

"Oh yeah? When?"

"When I made it up. Duh."

Rolling her eyes, Brightkit trotted around the perimeter of the camp. She wanted to explore _more _of the sites that her new home had to offer. Every rock, nook, and cranny, Brightkit wanted to see it. She was almost tempted to count the number of sparks that came off of the nursery- which blazed in a huge cape of flames.

As she passed the spot where she had seen Eaglepaw and Foxpaw, there was a flash of red-ginger and brown. Spinning around to see the shapes, she pieced it together- she was surrounded. And she didn't like it one bit.

"Oh, you don't have any big warrior friends around to protect you now, do you?" laughed Foxpaw, stepping closer to Brightkit. She tried her best to remain as calm as she did when she first encountered Darkstar. On the outside, she was doing fine, but on the inside...

_Great StarClan, help me!_

Eaglepaw grasped her roughly by the scruff and swung her upward. His teeth sank into her soft kit-skin and she felt like she would start bleeding any second. SHe tried to be brave by not making a sound. All she did was exhale abruptly when her tiny body was thrown towards the sky- needle sharp teeth still in her skin. He swung her around like a dog would a squirrel.

"On the count of three, okay?" Foxpaw giggled maniacally.

"Stop! Please-" Brightkit was swung down again before she finished.

"One..."

Brightkit was sent back down.

"Two..."

Brightkit's silvery fur shined in the sunlight when sent back up once more.

"Three!"

Eaglepaw gave a huge toss, sending the much smaller cat flying through the air. Landing almost near its peak, Brightkit scrambled onto the very top so she wouldn't plummet onto the hard, leaf-bare ground. With the wind knocked out of her, she began to quiver in fear and helplessness.

"Now you don't call for help or we'll pulverize you," hissed Foxpaw, looking Brightkit right in the eye. Laughing, the two apprentices swaggered away, leaving the kit stuck on top of the nursery, unable to do anything about it. Brightkit curled into the tightest ball she could, jammed her jaws shut, and closed her own shining eyes for good measure.

* * *

**Well, that took me awhile to edit...**


	5. Chapter Four: Sunkit

**Now, I've edited Chapter Four! Yay!**

* * *

When Sunkit finally got over how bright it was, he thought the clearing somehow felt familiar.

He stood on springy yellowed grass at the foot of a towering mountainous boulder. Rough ridges lining the sides lead to five other caves.

One going underneath the boulder seemed to have a shining aura that tugged at Sunkit's paws to go inside.

The one he stood in front of was about five or six fox-lengths away from the tunneling entrance.

Up a zigzagging ridge was a larger cave. The path towards it seemed to be the widest of the other trails. It sat nine or so cat-lengths directly above Sunkit's head.

A straightforward (but slanted) walkway lead to a smaller den. It was perched above the underground entryway and was about twelve cat-lengths up.

Twisting, another path lead to a smaller indent that looked like more of a crevice if anything. Sharper stones jutted from it, and Sunkit scented the faint scent of elderly cats. It lay four cat lengths to the left of the previous home, and five cat-lengths up.

Leading off of that was a path that lead straight to the right of the spike-lined den. This entryway was more smooth than the last and had a more of a homy feel by the looks of it.

And (lastly) was the steepest path of all. It lead up to the final den at such an angle that it looked like you'd fall down the cliff before you'd ever reach the top. The width of the ridge was roughly as wide as Pebblefall, and the mouth of the den was far smaller than the rest. Shellclaw could've fit through it just fine, but cats with broader bodies like Mosspool would struggle to crawl through to go inside.

"You're finally awake!" a silvery-white she-cat called from across the clearing, and she started running towards him. The voice scared Sunkit out of his own fur. Her eyes were a light blue shade.

"We might as well start welcoming him into the Clan," the she-cat insisted, stopping and addressing the rest of the cats gathered around them, all baring unique scents. "To start, my name is Rainpaw. What's yours?"

"Sunkit," he replied, and Rainpaw nodded her round head in approval.

"How did you heal me so quickly?" the golden kit asked in confusion—the question had been nagging at him since he had woken up.

"Quickly?" wondered the silvery-white she-cat out loud. "You were knocked out for almost two days, that's hardly what I've called 'fast'!"

Sunkit gaped at her in amazement. Two days? That seemed like forever in the mind of the young kit.

Suddenly his stomach gave out a loud rumble—embarrassed, he ducked his head and looked away. Rainpaw's ears, always alert for troubled cats, stood straight up on her head.

"Oh, I forgot! You haven't eaten for days! You be must struggling to stand on your paws!" Rainpaw cried out sympathetically.

_How am I, a kit who isn't even half-grown yet, still alive even after not eating for a few days? How is that _possible_?_ Sunkit blinked, _How did Rainpaw ever get her paws on such powers?_

"Have you ever had a mouse?" taking a moment to consider, Sunkit shook his head. "Squirrel? Vole? Thrush?" Sunkit continued to answer 'no'.

"I've never tasted meat before," he admitted, remembering the milk of Frostbreeze, "Just milk."

"Oh... Don't worry!" mewed Rainpaw; "I'll find you the best mouse in the pile!" she whisked off, her silvery-white tail waving excitedly as she scanned the fresh-kill pile. Her large paws nudging the pile, making it shudder slightly.

"Okay then…" Sunkit called after her, though he was worried. What if he ended up hating the taste? Or, could Rainpaw make the mouse taste really good by default with her special powers? Questions continued on and on through the small cat's head, until it was broken by a light brown tom who was smaller than Frostbreeze, but larger than Pebblefall.

Rainpaw began to turn back from the pile of slain prey and sped back over to Sunkit with her tail in the air. She was purring merrily with her eyes narrowed contently. The mouse's blood stained her mouth a light pink, but her thorn-sharp teeth still kept it firmly in place. When she reached Sunkit, which wasn't very long at all, she promptly dropped the rodent gently onto the dying grass in front of his forepaws. Bowing her head, she darted around him and made the short way back to the den that he had come from.

Confused, Sunkit looked down at the mouse. Was there a certain part he was supposed to eat first? Was the tail edible?

_How do I even chew?_ Sunkit asked himself in a panic.

A blaring voice instantly snapped the kit's attention onto something else- a small brown tom with a splash of cream on his chest. Sunkit didn't even think that such volume could come from a cat of his stature.

"Hello there!" the light brown tom greeted a bit loudly, his chest fur rising when he lowered his head the smallest bit, "I'm Mousethroat, a warrior here. I thought I'd like to get to know you, being new and all. Can I share that mouse with you?"

"Okay... Sure." Sunkit whispered, unsure if he could trust him.

Mousethroat, thankfully, got the message and lowered his tone. He slowly took a bite of the prey, chewed it in slow motion, and swallowed it carefully, as if to give Sunkit a tutorial as to how to do so. He had taken a bite of the mouse's haunch, so the younger tom could have the best part of it- the belly.

"So Sunkit," meowed Mousethroat as Sunkit crouched down to the mouse, mimicking Mousethroat the best he could manage, and took a bite of the rodent. He looked odd, considering he had eaten one of its tiny ears. "What was life like before you came here?"

"Well, I was always afraid that mother wouldn't be able to feed us—me," Sunkit thought it'd be wise to leave Blossomkit out of this, "but she always seemed to be able to catch enough. Every night, we camped out in what Mama called an 'abandoned badger set'. Mama was a cat of few words I guess, and when she had directed a sentence at me for one of the first times, she was just... Gone. I never saw her again after that." He took a bite of the mouse's face, trying to look proper, or at least like he had done this before, "It seems a lot more... Peaceful here, I guess. But I always liked the dark den in the meadows where Mama and I'd sleep night after night..." Sunkit swallowed, "I guess that I just liked life with her, even if it meant being in danger of Fire Cats and Fogbound Cats..."

Mousethroat looked puzzled. "So that's what she called them, eh?"

"Yeah. Why anything different?"

"Hmm..." Mousethroat looked a bit disturbed, but shook his head. "Well, it must've been quite a challenge living out there, just the two of you."

"Yeah, I mean, this is a whole different way to live. I used to even have a different name." Sunkit mewed as he took a bite out of the mouse's belly. It was so good, he couldn't even comment, much better than the ear and nose he had taken.

"You're name was different?" Mousethroat echoed, "Well, what was it? And why'd you change it?"

"Shadowkit," replied Sunkit solemly, "Sounded like my mother's killer, so it didn't feel 'right' to keep it, you know? So we changed it."

A jet-black cat with claws sharper than teeth entered his kind, chuckling eerily.

Sunkit shivered.

"That's a bad piece of luck," sighed Mousethroat as he took his second bite of the prey.

"I know, I know…" Sunkit mewed distractedly. Was the end of her life painful?

"Mousethroat!" a voice yowled from the other side of camp, which was shrouded by a thick barrier of brambles "Border patrol! Come on!"

"Nice talking to you, Sunkit," said Mousethroat quickly stumbling to his feet, "Coming, Shrewnose!"

_He seems like a very decent cat. We should talk again sometime..._ Sunkit thought to himself. _He just seems a bit... Noisy. Like Waterkit._

Yet another new scent hit the roof of his mouth. Turning around, he saw a slender, yet strong she cat whose white fur that matched leafbare's snows appeared to be glowing in the sunlight. Her tail had long strands of fur trailing from the ends almost magically.

"Sunkit, there's someone who would like to see you." her soft voice mewed, a nice change from the shouting Mousethroat. Sunkit took three huge bites of his first prey and got up onto his paws and turned around. In front of him was a pure white she cat with a long pluming tail.

"Is it Blossomkit?" Sunkit mewed excitedly, his heart suddenly beginning to thud in his chest. She always was the strong one of their duo, so surely she went on yet another rescue misson for him, right?

_Right?_

"Who's Blossomkit?"

"No one," Sunkit lied, spirits sinking to depths that he could ever imagine. "No one..."

"Uh-huh..." the white cat answered skeptically, but left it alone. "You go to the highest den in the boulder. But be careful, that ridge is very steep."

Sunkit saw it earlier. He didn't need telling twice.

"Thanks! Uh… what's your name?"

"Snowfeather. I'm the clan deputy," the long-furred she-cat told him.

"It's nice to meet you," the kit mewed politely; although he had no idea what a deputy was, he thought it sounded powerful, and he didn't want to upset this she-cat. Even if a deputy wasn't a figure of power, she still was very nice to him.

"Well, young Sunkit, thinking twice, I think that it'd be best if I climbed the trail with you. We don't want any... Accidents happening on the hike up."

Walking past the den Rainpaw disappeared to, they headed up the boulder. After passing a second den, Snowfeather began to talk to him.

"So, this is MoonClan, the clan of the brave and forgiving," she started. "The other clans are called FlameClan—"

Sunkit tensed. _Fire Cats, right?_

"—MistClan, and EarthClan. Each of our clans has a special ability. FlameClan can walk through fire, but only temporarily. I've seen terrible cases that not even Shellclaw could solve... Anyway, there's also MistClan, who can see can see through the thickest mist, EarthClan can dig tunnels—"

"And what can MoonClan do?" Sunkit asked excitedly.

"We can break a warrior's bone with one hit in battle—we have the strongest fighting skills, but I must admit that our skill is also a downfall. It makes us a bit clumsy... But the other clans still fear our powerful paws. For example, look at mine," the graceful white she-cat mewed.

Sunkit gazed down at her paws, and started in surprise. He had though that all of Snowfeather was quiet and small, to match her apparent appearance, but her large, rough paws failed that description. They were _more _than out of proportion, like she had simply attached rocks to her feet.

"Cool," he mewed. "Do they just grow like that?"

"A little bit," purred Snowfeather with a chuckle. "The rest comes from hard-core training. You'll be surprised what you have to do to get paws like mine! I bet you you'll call it brutal, because I sure did!"

The ground beneath their paws spiked upward. They were now at the extremely angled slope. Snowfeather immediately stopped talking and swept Sunkit off of his paws. His scruff now in her teeth.

"Hey!" Sunkit growled, "I can walk just fine, you know!"

"Sf-orry" Snowfeather mumbled, "Ull apprenfices 'n kits must be carried up to thiff den."

Snowfeather flew up the slope expertly, knowing just what nooks and crannies to snatch onto to haul herself up. Sunkit saw the cats below him become smaller and smaller with every flying bound of the MoonClan deputy. It was like scaling the ridge was an ancient practice of her's.

She stopped suddenly when she had reached the top. She placed Sunkit inwardly to the wall-side of the cliff which lead to an entrance of some sort of cave. The scent wafting from it was rough and powerful... Intimidating through the nose of quick-to-flee Sunkit. Standing frozen on the spot, Snowfeather gave him a gentle shove from behind.

"Go on, it'll be okay. Foxstar only bites his enemies,"

"Fox—who?"

"Just go on!" She gave the kit another shove. Startled, Sunkit stumbled into the den like a kit just learning to walk, which ultimately made him slam headfirst into a large wall of rough red fur. The scary smell was now as intensified as it would ever be. Sunkit didn't even dare to move his head from the surrounding pelt.

A low voice rumbled out of the darkness.

"So you're the new kit I've heard so much about."

* * *

**Old fans, are you reading these? I think that they're much better...**


	6. Chapter Five: Brightkit

**Chapter Five- Finally edited! I had to start from scratch SO many times that its not even funny anymore...**

* * *

"Brightkit! Has anyone seen Brightkit?"

Gingermoon was in the clearing, frantic with worry. Brightkit was still huddled in fear on top of the nursery. Foxpaw was eating a vole in the clearing and had her amber eyes fixed on the kit.

_Don't say a word,_ she seemed to be saying.

Brightkit was seriously considering if being pulverized was that bad. She was starving, and her mouth was dry. Her pelt was burning—leaf-bare seemed to be ending, because the sun was out much more and it was burning her fur off.

She began to feel the flames on her direct skin- not good.

She closed her eyes and thought of home, trying her best to calm her nerves.

_Home is where the moor mice are._

_Home is where my brother is._

_Home is... Frostbreeze._

Brightkit, still keeping her eyes closed tight, gave a quiet sigh.

_Oh, where have they gone?_

Foxpaw gave a loud yawn and nodded in Eaglepaw's direction. Still no sign of hope for Brightkit.

Though, something about him seemed different than the ruthless Foxpaw. Like he regretted this.

_But that couldn't be possible, right? Like sister like brother..._

But she definitely seemed onto something. She noticed about Eaglepaw was off.

Daring to steal a peak, she noticed the tom stalking closer and closer to the nursery.

Foxpaw's loud snoring resonated uneasily with Brightkit.

_Is he going to... Kill me?_

Eaglepaw made a quick glance at Brightkit, and thankfully the hostile intimidation she was expecting from his round eyes was completely absent. Instead, she sensed something warm. Not as intense as she would feel when she was in Frostbreeze's presence, or even Shadowkit.

But it was there, nonetheless.

He blinked worriedly up at her and veered his head in his sister's direction. Foxpaw was sleeping like a rock. He shook his head. His jaws seemed to open once or twice. He seemed to be talking to himself.

_Mama used to do that..._ Brightkit connected,_ A lot, actually._

Eaglepaw paced a few more times in front of the nursery. Every now and then, he'd no to himself or fiercely shook his head.

After a few more minutes, the tom reached a verdict. Looking up at Brightkit one last time, he winked.

"Foxpaw!" he called to his snoozing littermate. "Whitescar wants you!"

Foxpaw leapt up, surprised, and dashed away with clumsy paws. She wasn't fully awake yet, it seemed. Brightkit found the whole scene quite amusing. Eaglepaw waited a few seconds before he hurried up to the nursery.

Scrambling, he caught hold of the nursery wall's woven bramble and bracken. He hissed when a thorn jabbed into one of the pads of his feet. Scarlet spots scattered all over the spherical nursery walls whenever he paused to shake his sore paw.

Until at long last, he had made it over to Brightkit, who was speechless.

Eaglepaw snatched the kit by her scruff and struggled down the path he came. As Brightkit had noticed, it had always been easier to climb up things than to get down.

With an ear-ringing thump, Eaglepaw and Brightkit landed safely onto the ground. Brightkit opened her mouth when Eaglepaw gently lowered her the rest of the way onto the ground.

"Wh—" the kit started to ask but was cut off by a harsh shush.

"I felt sorry for you, okay?" he mumbled, "Not a word of this to _anyone_! Say that Squirrelkit found you or something, got it?" Brightkit nodded.

"Now go, please, before Foxpaw comes back!" Eaglepaw hissed.

"W-wait!" Brightkit interrupted, "What about your paw? That thorn doesn't look too good..."

"Shadowwhisker will sort me out, it'll be fine!" Eaglepaw countered hastily. He kept picking up and putting down his paws like he was about to run somewhere.

"B-but what if your paw _comes off_?" the kit mewed worriedly, as she had never gotten a thorn stuck in her paw before. Her kit wonder seemed to amaze Eaglepaw.

"It won't come off," he reassured the grey kit, "It'll just hurt awhile. Not much."

"B-but..."

"I'll be _fine _Brightkit."

"... Okay."

Giving her a quick lick on the ear, he quickly limped over to what seemed to be "Shadowwhisker's" den. Brightkit could still see his small brown shape stumbling across the grasses.

_Like a half-awake cat... _Brightkit purred, recalling Foxpaw.

He appeared to glance quickly up in her direction before disappearing into the den.

Perhaps Foxpaw was mean, but maybe, just maybe, Eaglepaw wasn't so bad after all.

"Brightkit!" gasped a she-cat. Turning around, the silver kit saw a grey cat bounding in her direction, her tail held high in happiness.

"Gingermoon!" chirped Brightkit.

Her pounding paws brought her to an abrupt halt when she reached the she-kits side. Catchng her breath, her chest heaved for a few moments. Her green eyes were whizzing around, as if searching for something else. She licked her lips when she saw her two kits follow the same path she did.

"I found Brightkit!" she yowled merrily. The black and white she kit's eyes lit up and her light brown brother purred when his eyes found her.

"Get on over here, you two!" Gingermoon meowed. Surprisingly, they shook their heads.

"No thanks!" Drizzlekit mewed.

"Not right now, we mean," Squirrelkit chimed.

"We're off to get something-"

"For Brightkit, you see."

"She hasn't tasted meat yet, right?"

"So, we should get her something!"

"How does a vole sound?" they asked in unison.

Gingermoon looked down at Brightkit for a few seconds, then returned her gaze to her two birth-kits.

"A vole does seem the right size," she agreed, "Go on ahead, I need to speak with your sister for a moment."

_I'm not their sister. _Brightkit grumbled in her head.

"Okay!" Drizzlekit answered triumphantly.

"Thanks, Mama!" Squirrelkit added.

And at that, they bolted over to the camp's fresh-kill pile, chocked full of the corpses the cats hunted.

The nursery queen's gaze lingered on her kits for a moment more before turning back to the she-kit.

"Brightkit, where _were _you all this time?" her tone turned serious, "The whole camp was in panic... Everyone was worried!"

"Not Darkstar, I bet," Brightkit mumbled to herself quietly.

"What was that, dear?"

"N-nothing."

"Back to my question, _where were you_?"

Brightkit's ears drooped. _Decision time._

She could easily explain that Foxpaw and Eaglepaw had thrown her on top of the nursery and they left her to rot when up there...

But Eaglepaw felt so guilty about everything and even _got her down _so she thought that he learned his lesson.

_But Foxpaw..._

Brightkit faced her foster parent, she had her answer.

"I- I played hide-and-seek with everyone in the camp wall, you know, with all the fire on it."

"How long were you there?" Gingermoon asked worriedly.

"Uh-umm... Almost all day."

"Oh no..." Gingermoon sounded like she was going to be sick, "Brightkit, how do you feel?"

"Why does it matter?" she defended herself, "I mean, we're FlameClan, right? Aren't we completely fine when fire happens?"

"No!" Gingermoon shouted, Brightkit took a startled leap backward, "I mean, _no _we can only last so long in fire. There has been so many cases of severe burns in this clan that Shadowwhisker has to deal with it constantly and almost always runs out of herbs... She just can't keep up."

"What happens?" Brightkit demanded, now scared to death about her own safety.

"The fire... It burns you at some point. After being in fire for too long, your fur catches fire, and your only chance then is to find a river."

"B-but we're invincible!" Brightkit argued, in denial, "We're called 'FlameClan' aren't we?"

"I lost my mother," Gingermoon countered quietly, "She was a brave warrior, she just lost track of time..." she sighed, "Now _tell me _how do you feel?"

"So now it's time for your first mouse!" Drizzlekit squeaked as she bounced around, "Are you excited?" Brightkit nodded unenthusiastically at the lump that she thought was a dead mouse.

Please let this be good as Gingerm—I mean Frostbreeze's milk!

"Come on, hurry up! Take a bite already!" mewed Squirrelkit impatiently.

"Alright, alright! Fine! I'll eat this thing!" Brightkit hissed as she crouched down to take a bite of her "mouse". But her instincts won over. "This doesn't even look like a mouse!" she complained as she took a few pawsteps back from the prey.

"That's because Eaglepaw caught it," explained Drizzlekit.

"Yeah, he always manages to shred everything he catches to bits," nodded Squirrelkit.

"But you're not too much of a scaredy mouse to not try, are you?" snarled Foxpaw, who had trotted over to see what was going on, and was now sitting down with her tail wrapped neatly around her paws.

"Back off, Foxpaw!" hissed Squirrelkit as he puffed out his chest in defense of his sister.

Gingermoon opened her mouth for a couple seconds, but closed it.

"Why should I?" snarled Foxpaw.

"Because I'm a kit!"

Foxpaw blinked in surprise and said, "Well, sorry," in a snotty tone and kept quiet, though her amber eyes flashed in defiance at the kits.

Brightkit gulped and looked down at the mangled mouse, which now had flies buzzing around its head.

_You're such a mousebrain,_ she thought to herself indignantly, and then dived down and took a bite of the vole.

At first the rich, meaty flavor swamped her senses, but as she continued to chew warily she realized just how delicious it was, and it finally registered that it was a wonderfully delicious taste!

"It's really good— oh, yum!" she purred as she took another bite.

"Great! You like it!" Drizzlekit squealed.

"Wait 'till you try adders!" Squirrelkit smiled mischievously, and Brightkit stopped mid-chew.

_Adders?_

Seeing her expression, the other kits broke into laughter.

"Now now, Brightkit, let's head off to the medicine den."

After the painful trip to the den, Brightkit had met much more of the clan, including Fangscar, the eldest tom in the Clan, Duskstrom, an exceptionally young warrior who looked like he'd kill Brightkit when she told him that he was lying about the whole warrior thing, and Berryfrost, FlameClan's kind deputy.

Without her meaning to, she found herself drifting away from Frostbreeze and Shadowkit as she learned about her father she had never known.

"Shadowbird was a great warrior in his time," Whitescar had told her. "He was brave and strong, but disappeared three and a half moons ago. No cat knows where he went."

Hearing about her father made Brightkit shiver.

_I want to meet him!_ wanting to meet him! _He sounds like the perfect role model!_

After hearing a couple more stories from Whitescar, about how they overpowered some "Stone-Pawed" toms, she made herself a promise.

_I'm going to be just like him one day!_

But for now, she'd have to settle for being a kit, who missed her mother, her father, and her brother who was probably dead…

And she'd have to settle with that for now.

But a few days later, an odd rustle sounded from right outside of camp.

_Wait!_

Her ears swiveled on her head when she detected the new noise. She began to gently take pawsteps over to the rustling, being sure to not make her skin feel like it'd jump right off her yet again.

Suddenly she noticed movement at the front of the camp, and Whitescar and Foxpaw emerged. Following them was a golden tom with a jet-black right front paw.

Brightkit's heart seemed to stop.

_Those light blue eyes… That black paw…_

It was just like she remembered

_This is Shadowkit!_

Perhaps not _everything _from her past life had vanished just yet.

* * *

**I hope that these edited chapters are better than the originals! Because I'm going to keep doing these!**


	7. Chapter Six: Sunkit

**Edited at long last.  
**

* * *

Sunkit gasped stumbled into the den due to Snowfeather's shove. The sun-colored kit collided with a large, red figure from the back. Sunkit got a faceful of fur, making him sputter when he leapt back. The figure then whipped around, yellow eyes locking onto Sunkit instantly.

For a moment, he felt like prey.

"You are as lively as I thought you'd be." The figure's surprisingly deep voice purred. Sunkit still stiffened.

"I-I uh…" Sunkit stuttered.

"It's fine. You're safe here." The red cat reassured. "I am Foxstar. Leader of MoonClan."

"Why'd you call me here for?" mewed Sunkit abruptly, intimidated by the huge clan leader. "Am I in trouble or something? Is it because I was named Shadowkit?"

"No, no! Not at all, little warrior. I just wanted a little chat with you."

"Oh," the tom-kit relaxed a little "Okay."

The golden kit scuffed at the cave floor for a moment, disliking the silence. He never liked quiet. Thankfully, Foxstar broke in with his loud voice.

"So, how do you like it here so far?"

"I love it!" Sunkit answered without needing thought, "It's perfect, and I like everyone here! They're all so nice!"

"That's good." Foxstar chuckled, pleased with the kit's response.

"I also think I'm friends with Waterkit."

"You think you are? Why think?" Foxstar twitched his whiskers from the slight confusion that had awoken inside of him.

"Well, it's just that… I've only had one friend before." Sunkit admitted, thinking of Blossomkit.

"Are you talking about Frostbreeze?" Foxstar asked and continued without waiting for Sunkit's answer, "Yes, she was a very fine cat. If only that foxheart _Shadowbird_ never crept up on her..." He growled to himself for a short moment, only causing the small tom grow even more uneasy.

"Uh, yeah…" Sunkit now wasn't so sure since she had sent him away, and Blossomkit to her own fate.

"Speaking of Frostbreeze, did you have any siblings?" Foxstar meowed curiously.

"I had one…" Sunkit said slowly, "But she died a few days ago."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Foxstar apologized "She must have also been just like your mother, too." Sunkit didn't want to accept that his sister was dead, but he knew that he couldn't remain in denial forever.

"I wish I had a family again." Sunkit sighed. Foxstar nodded as his eyes became unfocused for a moment. Like he was thinking, hard.

Another bout of silence washed over the air. Sunkit, once again, felt like he'd suffocate like this.

"Sunkit... Would you like it if Mosspool and I took the place of Frostbreeze?"

"Wh-what?" Sunkit sputtered in surprise, more concentrating on the sound of his rumbling mew than the actual question.

"Mosspool could be your new mother and I your father. In fact, Waterkit could be your new sister, and Mosspool could help raise you. How about it?"

"Well, I…" Sunkit stumbled still shocked.

"Of course we won't ever truly replace Frostbreeze or your sister," Foxstar added delicately, "But you need _someone_ to look after you."

It only took a second for Sunkit to decide.

_Why not?_

"Umm, sure!" he chirped with approval, "Thanks, Foxstar!"

"Good, good." Foxstar purred, now being able to have watchful eyes over the young tom, "Now go off to the camp at once and meet everyone. Tell them that you are now a new member of MoonClan!"

"Really?" Sunkit gasped, "I'm a part of the clan?" Foxstar nodded.

_I'm a Cat of the Moon! _he shrieked to himself joyfully. _So..._ _l__ooks like things are going to get better and better from here on out! I got new friends, a new family, and a new home… Sunkit stopped for a moment. But I loved our old home, under the old hawthorn bush with Blossomkit and Frostbreeze and the rolling hills of our old home..._

Sunkit respectively brushed his head on Foxstar's shoulder before he rushed down the narrow slope into the heart of camp. His paws, though, didn't match the speed of his comfort. He was going faster and faster due to the slick black ice coating the surface of the already smooth stone. Soon his tiny paws started to slide and his body began to roll down the ridge.

Suddenly, a large grey she-cat leapt in front of him, clearly not seeing the tumbling kit, and was making her way slowly towards the warrior's den.

"Look out!" Sunkit shrieked as he hit her square on the side, making her bellow a yowl in surprise. And the two of them rolled and tumbled until they reached the foot of the slope, in which they were still stumbling and bumping along the hard rock with no signs of stopping.

"Who… in… Star…Clan's…name…are…YOU?" the cat demanded unsteadily as the bumped along the icy path. Sunkit found it exceptionally hard to gather his breath while hurdling down the slope at a hawk's pace.

"Sun… KIT… Why… yyyy?" Sunkit finally rasped when the two cats finally began to slow.

The two cats hit the ground like a tree falls to the ground, then skidded even further across the ground. Together, they cleared the snow away from the ground and revealed the sickly yellow grass beneath. With the wind knocked out of her, the grey cat's breath came in short, shallow gasps. Shaking the snow off of her, she rose to her paws.

"Wait… Aren't you that kit we found out in the snow?" she questioned suspiciously.

"Yes," Sunkit answered confidently, getting to his feet as well and flicking the slush from his whiskers, "And I'm sorry for crashing into you!" Sunkit's legs shook like leaf fall trees. The she-cat looked at him sympathetically and softened her voice.

"It's fine, it really is. Kits do this all the time!" she reassured him, "The name's Emberheart, by the way. Nice meeting you."

"Uh, you too." Sunkit felt a little embarrassed talking with this big important warrior when he was just a tiny little kit! He quickly scampered away with Emberheart's big, curious eyes looking after him.

After that first encounter, days living with the clan passed like running river water. Sunkit had more fun in MoonClan then almost any other time of his life! He and Waterkit would tussle, practice growing strong paws by hitting them against rock walls (which almost always sent them to the medicine cat den; usually Waterkit, who didn't seem to have the stamina that Sunkit did) and sneaking around the apprentice's den, preparing their new nests in… two moons was it? Or was it one-and-a-half? But there was something he wondered about more often than anything else.

What was beyond the camp walls?

He had been so confined since Frostbreeze was killed that the question nagged at him every day. Waterkit obviously was happy in camp, with her mother, father, etcetera, but Sunkit found himself watching the cats that went out on patrol more and more and inhaling the scents of earth, leaves, grass into his nose. Once he even scented smoke on a patrol that had previously gone to the FlameClan border! Sometimes, Frostbreeze and Blossomkit would smell a little like that, whenever they went hunting together.

And finally, he got his chance to explore.

When he awoke earlier than everyone else the morning that leaf-bare seemed to have vanished (excluding a few scattered lumps of snow remaining among the treetops), with sunlight beaming down on his pelt, he looked at Mosspool. Without surprise, Sunkit found her sound asleep, and next to him, Waterkit was snoring as her paws twitched like she was running in a dream. Sunkit slowly got up and crept out of the den into the clearing and gazed at the milky pink horizon, and then his gaze slowly swept to the camp entrance. For once, Sunkit felt lucky that his denmates slept like raccoons by day. Taking a few more steps forward, he finalized what he was about to do.

_Should I?_ processing the thought, he made up his mind as quickly as he did when Foxstar asked him about joining his family. He smiled. _Yeah, it _does_ sound like a lot of fun._

He crept slowly towards the camp entrance and looked to his right, noticing a snoring Pebblefall, who looked as if he had fallen asleep during his night watch. Sunkit had to fight back a laugh as the tabby tom let out a loud grunt and turned over. A few more pawsteps and he was outside of the camp.

_Why does every cat around here do it? _Sunkit thought to himself in awe, _They sleep until sunhigh, and yet they usually have dawn patrols! _(Foxstar had once informed him that he only had one dawn patrol every quarter moon, but made up for it with a second moonhigh patrol each night, when MoonClan cats were usually the most awake).

As he continued walking, Sunkit saw all different sorts of pine and oak trees scattered across the forest. Running, walking, circling, and zigzagging through the brush, he was having the time of his life. No rules abided him here!

But, after a while, he couldn't tell where he was anymore. And the worst part was that he was both tired _and_ hungry, which he hadn't felt since being with his sister and birth mother, or when Frostbreeze sent him away. It was just like before, when he had found MoonClan, or rather they had found him; he couldn't take another step, and all he could do was stop and slump on the ground, wait for his energy to come back, and hope not to pass out. He tended to do that a lot when traveling long distances when hunting with his mother, Frostbreeze.

_I have to keep going_! Sunkit urged himself on. _I don't want to end up like last time, or all the other times, either!_

Slowly, very slowly, he struggled to his paws. It suddenly seemed like leaf-bare was still here after all, because all of a sudden his teeth were chattering and he was freezing and cold and wishing he had never come out of the camp in the first place as he continued to walk. It seemed like moons had passed since he had decided to leave the camp.

And then heat seemed to be flooding the air, and Sunkit smelled the choking scent of smoke. The smell trailed from a huge fire roaring in front of him. He hadn't noticed it until he had looked up. This forest was filled with charred birch, maple, and oak trees. Seeing the skeletons of the once lush forest trees made him shudder. Sunkit (now more than ever) wanted to turn tail for home, but the flame that danced before his eyes seemed to entrance him. Sunkit stared at it with rounded ice blue eyes that were watering from the stinging, whispy smoke. Recollecting past information on this uncommon sight, Frostbreeze's words flooded through his head.

_"Do not fear the fire,"_ she seemed to be saying right next to him, _"it will not harm you."_

Placing all trust into his mother's words, he readied his haunches.

_Here it goes,_ he thought and Sunkit leapt through the raging flame. Amazingly, he didn't get burnt to a crisp, just felt a tingling, like being licked by Moss— Frostbreeze's soothing tongue.

As he tumbled onto the burnt ground Sunkit heard pawsteps coming his way. He looked up with wide blue eyes to see a large white tom with a smaller russet she-cat, who just by the look of her made Sunkit feel smaller than mice.

"What's this?" sneered the she-cat. "Poor little kit lost his way?" She let out a condescending huff and Sunkit let out a shiver. He didn't like the look on this she-cat's face, but the sound of her barking laughter let him guess what it looked like.

"Foxpaw!" hissed the white tom. "Mind your manners!"

The she-cat stopped laughing and looked up at the older tom with a look of pure innocence in her bright amber eyes. "Sorry," Foxpaw sniffed insincerely.

"My name's Whitescar of FlameClan," the white cat said to Sunkit, who was surprisingly standing his ground without panic. "I would suggest you come with us if you want to live. There are foxes and badgers about the woods and I wouldn't want a little cat like you to get hurt."**  
**

He beckoned Sunkit with his tail. "Now, follow me."

A bit hesitant at first, Sunkit decided that he was better off lost with these two strangers than lost altogether.

"Um… Okay," said the golden kit shakily.

"Luckily for you," said Whitescar, "Camp's not far from here."

"Where did you come from?" snapped Foxpaw suddenly.

"MoonClan," he explained automatically, being a Cat of the Moon, he had nothing to fear and he knew it.

"That doesn't explain how you got through that fire unharmed," the russet she-cat pointed out, and Sunkit bristled. He just could! What was wrong with that?**  
**

"Maybe he's… half-clan," Whitescar whispered to his apprentice, but Sunkit could still hear him loud and clear.

"Half-Clan?" Foxpaw echoed. A small grin cracked across her face.

"It means he's probably part MoonClan and part FlameClan. You know, mother from MoonClan, father from FlameClan or the other way around," said the big white tom.

"How do you know he has a father from FlameClan?" Foxpaw asked.

"Just a theory, but just _look _at him. Who does he remind you of?" mewed Whitescar, glancing back at Sunkit once more.

"... Looks a bit like Berryfrost's dead littermate." Foxpaw commented.

"Try again," he meowed patiently, "Look beyond the obvious."

Sunkit waited a moment longer for the sour cat to make up her mind.

"... _Shadowbird_? You really think?"

Sunkit's belly sunk. Who in their right mind would ever think that he was connected to a cold-blooded murderer?

Whitescar nodded, making Sunkit's anger flare more.

"His structure looks a lot like his slim self," he reasoned further, "and his muzzle's pointed just right." Whitescar approached the kit to examine him further, and gasped when he saw his paw, "And look, he even shares a patch of his fur!"

Sunkit twitched his tail subtly enough for the two smoke-scented cats to not notice.

Whitescar decided not to say anything more when they made their trek back to what seemed to be Foxpaw and his home. Sunkit sniffed the area around him daintily and once again looked up. The skeleton trees still made him uneasy beyond belief, he wished very badly to return home soon.

Whitescar and Foxpaw abruptly stopped and scanned the area for someone or something. And though he was looking for nothing, he spotted a cat that he wanted to see for a long time now.

A sliver she-kit rolled around playing with two other cats her age. Her green eyes glimmered in the firelight and her paws waved as energetically as his beloved sister. Even one of her forepaws was marked with a charcoal black.

Sunkit felt his heart soar.

_Blossomkit?_

* * *

**Well, this took forever, but it was most definitely improved! Huzzah! **


	8. Chapter Seven: Partially Reunited

**Ok, now here's one of the tricky chapters where it flips all the time. Each time the POV flips, there will be a "*" ok? More of these will show up; I'll give you that heads up.**

* * *

_He looks like Shadowkit. So much!_

Brightkit rushed up to the tom. He stared intently at her with his ice blue eyes. Even his eye color is the same!

"What's your name?" she gasped.

_Please be Shadowkit. Please. Oh, please, StarClan, let it be Shadowkit!_

"Sunkit," he replied curtly, and Brightkit felt her heart sink like a stone.

_Could it be? She looks a lot like Blossomkit…maybe she is!_

"What's your name?" Sunkit asked her, glancing first at her pine green eyes and then at her jet black paw.

"Brightkit," she responded, her voice sounding choked.

_Aw, and she matched the whole description too!_ he thought to himself sadly.

"So, are you going to live here for good?" asked Brightkit, eyeing Sunkit's one black paw. In her mind she compared it to her own. It's the same! How can he not be Shadowkit?

She started to quake all over. _No! I can't handle this! Where is Frostbreeze? Where is Shadowkit and Shadowbird? Where is my FAMILY?_

Giving a small wail, Brightkit bolted for the nursery, not even sticking around to hear Sunkit's answer.

"What's her problem?" asked Sunkit as he watched the small silver she-kit dart away, letting out small whimpers as she ran.  
The two kits that had been playing with her looked at him, surprised.

"We found her on the border," said the black-and-white she-kit.

"A moon ago," said the brown tom.

"She's very sensitive—"

"About her family."

"See, they're all gone—"

"Father went missing—"

"Mother unknown!"

"Poor Brightkit."

"All alone."

Blinking in surprise, Sunkit backed away from them, noticing the she-kit's eyes still following him as he walked away into the clearing. He noticed a silver she-cat with distinctive ginger streaks on her pelt looking at him, and then her gaze trailed back to Brightkit, who had dashed inside of the nursery.

Brightkit had reached the nursery in record-breaking time. She settled down into her nest in the shape of a perfect ball, her tail curled tightly around her nose. With her silvery shape glowing faintly as the sunlight reflected off of it, she looked like the full moon.

_Why does it have to be my life that is turning out so badly?_ she wondered, still shaking all over. _Why can't my life be like Squirrelkit's and Drizzlekit's? _Brightkit sniffled.

"Why can't my life be normal?" she whimpered aloud, and buried her face into the mossy nest, hoping that this was all a dream, hoping that she would wake up to find the silver cat that was her mother, Frostbreeze, and the golden colored cat that was her brother, Shadowkit. Brightkit closed her eyes tighter, wishing that one day she would reunite with her family, including the father she had never known.

Sunkit continued wandering about this unfamiliar place, and as he was walking, he gazed around in awe. Almost every den was on fire—an amazing defense mechanism, Sunkit reasoned. Suddenly he slammed into a wall of black fur, like a shadow was about to swallow him up forever.

Scooting backwards hurriedly, he heard a menacing voice snarl above him, "Watch where you're going!" Sunkit glanced upwards and saw a jet-black tom glaring at him with pale silver eyes, his tail lashing angrily from side to side.

"S—sorry!" he squealed, darting backwards faster. But the tom continued to stare directly into his blue eyes. It was as if he was peering into his very soul.

"Get out of my sight!" the black cat  
snarled. "Don't let me catch you in my way again—" as he started to walk away, he looked over his shoulder one last time and snapped, "or you'll be sorry." Then, in three powerful leaps, he landed on top of a silver boulder that, if you looked at it the right way, appeared to be on fire.

"Well, I see that you've become acquainted with Darkstar," huffed a kind-sounding voice above his head. Startled, Sunkit looked up to see the silver-and-ginger she-cat he had seen earlier.

"Who're you?" he squeaked.

"I'm Gingermoon, Squirrelkit and Drizzlekit's mother." Her tail flicked towards the brown tom kit and the black-and-white she-kit playing in the clearing. "It's getting late," she purred. "Why don't you sleep with the four of us tonight?"

"Four?"

"Including poor Brightkit, of course." For a minute, Gingermoon's voice softened, and Sunkit realized just how much this she-cat loved the silver kit.

"Okay," he said, smiling**.** "Thanks so much, Gingermoon!"

"No problem," she smiled back, wrapped her tail over his shoulders, and headed towards the nursery as the sky blackened and the stars, like tiny chips of ice, began to twinkle, one by one.

It was late at night when Brightkit woke up and saw next to her the three normal cats sleeping: Gingermoon, Squirrelkit, and Drizzlekit. But surprisingly, the newcomer Sunkit had slept with them too. At this moment his head was buried in Gingermoon's fur. This reminded her so much of the night before they had gone to the river, right before the last time she ever saw her mother and brother.

Over the last moon she had missed them so much it felt like her heart was on fire at days. Her pine green eyes gazed at the sky, and oddly, no moon hung in the blackness, and only one star, a lone star, twinkling feebly in the distance.  
Shadowkit? Frostbreeze? she called out in her mind. Which of you is watching me?

After a while of wondering in the dark, Brightkit felt drowsy and felt her eyes closing. Her final thought before she fell soundly into sleep was:_ I'll just have to get used to the fact that I'll never see my real family again._

* * *

**Doh they missed!**_  
_

**And that's why this chapter is called "_Partially_ Reunited".  
**

**Again, REVIEW peeps!  
**

**And Rain, I apologize in advance for _four _editing changes in this version.  
**

**GASP four!? ITS DE END OF TEH WORLD!  
**


	9. Chapter Eight: Sunkit

**No longer a shared chapter, now regular Sunkit's POV. We just skip over that character's own POV chapter if it landed on their said odd or even numbered chapters.**

* * *

Sunkit's blue eyes opened at the crack of dawn, and automatically he looked for Waterkit, but all he saw were the shadowy shapes of two kits and Gingermoon. He didn't think about who was missing for too long because he was dwelling upon the fact that he was in the flaming nursery of FlameClan. He wanted to go home so badly it felt like he was going to break in two if he stayed here any longer. He wanted to see Mosspool, Waterkit, and most of all, Foxstar…

His father.

_Have they forgotten about me already?_ wondered Sunkit. _Do they really care about me?_ Disturbed by these thoughts, he leapt out of the nursery's angry, rose-colored flames, and gazed into the distant rolling hills that lead out to the sea.

_Will I stay here forever?_

He couldn't answer any of these questions.

Suddenly there was a soft, tentative meow from behind him.

"Um…Sunkit?"

Sunkit whipped around in shock. Slipping out of the shadows was a black-and-white she-kit.

"Drizzlekit?"

She nodded, her light green eyes beaming as if it was a wonderful thing that he knew her name. "Good morning."

Suddenly Sunkit realized who had been missing from the nest when he had woken up. "Are the others still asleep then?" he asked her, and Drizzlekit nodded.

There was an awkward silence for a moment, where Sunkit wondered what to say next and Drizzlekit was looking at him curiously, as if he was an interesting piece of prey. Luckily, she spoke first.

"What's life like in MoonClan?" she asked him, a hint of a purr in her voice.

"Not much different than in FlameClan," Sunkit realized.

"You mean that your nursery is on fire too? Wouldn't the kits be burnt to a crisp?" Drizzlekit squealed in surprise.

"No, our nursery isn't on fire," answered Sunkit. "I think they're the same in the ways that all of us behave." He looked up at the sky and sighed. "Once you think about it, all Clans are the same."

Drizzlekit nodded in understanding, even though he doubted she really understood what he meant.

Slowly, the rest of the clan awoke, first Whitescar, followed by Foxpaw and Eaglepaw, and then Gingermoon…and soon everyone else was awake and wandering about the clearing, laughing, talking, and eating prey together. They reminded him of MoonClan in so many ways…  
But this still wasn't his home.

By the time it was sun high, Brightkit woke up.

"Who needs to sleep that long?" Eaglepaw asked with genuine curiosity in his voice; none of his earlier unfriendliness seemed to be showing through; in fact, his amber eyes seemed to soften as he looked at Brightkit, who looked back sleepily.

"I couldn't sleep last night, okay?" she snapped unexpectedly, and Eaglepaw recoiled.

"Alright, alright! I was just asking," he mewed quickly.

"Can I go home now?" Sunkit suddenly blurted out. As soon as he said it he knew it wasn't the time or the place to ask, but there was no turning back now. The damage was done. All of the cats turned to look at him in surprise.

After a long pause, Foxpaw finally answered, her usual sneer in her tone.

"You just don't get it, do you?" she smiled eerily. "This is your home."

Sunkit's head spun. He couldn't possibly stay here forever! He could sense that he didn't belong here, with the fire-loving, adder-eating, sister-imitating cats of Flame—

Suddenly Whitescar came bounding through the camp entrance. "INTRUDER!" he yowled, and before he knew what was happening, Gingermoon had bounded over, snatched him up by his scruff, and darted into the nursery.

"Quick!" she called out to the other three kits, who were standing, looking confused, in the clearing. "Get into here!"

Drizzlekit, Squirrelkit, and Brightkit bounded through the flames, the firelight reflecting their eyes and making them appear to glow as they landed; Brightkit a little unsteady.

"Is everyone here?" Gingermoon demanded, and they all nodded.

"Who is that cat?" Brightkit whimpered, and Sunkit realized she must have seen him come through the entrance. "And if he's not from FlameClan, how can he get through the fire?"

"That cat is from MoonClan, the clumsy-footed turtle-eaters," Gingermoon said, curling her kits, including Brightkit and Sunkit, into the curve of her belly. "He got through the fire by covering himself in wet moss." Then she smiled. "While we wait to see what's going on, I'll tell you a story about MoonClan that my mother told me. Would you like that?"

All of the kits except for Sunkit nodded; he was straining to hear what MoonClan cat was here and why he had come.

"When I was a kit, my mother would tell me and my siblings Oakscar and Maplestep stories like this. She told us that MoonClan swam in the water so much that the cold water has gone into their system and frozen their blood, that the turtles that they eat have turned their hearts into one big shell, and they pound their paws on rocks so hard that their paws have turned to stone, so that they have no true body left, just a cold, heartless shell covered in fur made for killing and stealing FlameClan kits. And if you aren't careful, they'll come and take you away to become like them, the killing machines. So…watch out for MoonClan always!"

By the end of the story, Squirrelkit, Drizzlekit, and Brightkit were shaking, but Sunkit was confused. "MoonClan doesn't do that!" he squealed in protest, but just as he said that, there was a loud growl from in the clearing.

"WHERE IS SUNKIT?"

That was a voice he knew.

"FOXSTAR!" Sunkit squealed and bolted towards the ginger tom, who curled his tail over his golden back.

"Sunkit! Please come back here to safety, with us!" Gingermoon's voice rang distantly.

"Sunkit!" the MoonClan leader mewed enthusiastically. "You're safe! I wouldn't put it past the Clan of scorch-hearted poison-blooded cats to have hurt you, or worse!"

"So, you know this cat?" said a voice in the background. "Very interesting."

A black cat bounded into the reunion between Sunkit and his father and the golden kit's heart sank. It was Darkstar.

"If you want this little kit back so badly, why don't we make a trade?" Darkstar hissed  
gleefully. "This scrap of fur for all of your catmint?"

Foxstar sighed. "I'll talk with Shellclaw when we get back. He'll understand." He picked up Sunkit by the scruff and turned away to go.

As they left, Darkstar yowled after them, "He would have been no help to the Clan anyway."

Feeling guilty he had left the camp in the first place; Sunkit squeaked up to Foxstar, "Are we going home now?"

Foxstar put him down and smiled. "Yes, Sunkit. We're going home."

And they walked out of the camp entrance  
together. Sunkit felt his heart racing.

He was _finally_ going home.

* * *

**Foxstar; LIKE A BOSS**

**Review like I repeatedly remind you!  
**


	10. Chapter Nine: Brightkit

**And bye bye Sunkit. What is to happen to Brightkit now that the MoonClan kit is gone?**

* * *

As Brightkit watched Sunkit turn tail and bound up to the MoonClan leader, Sunkit looked back at her with his ice blue eyes. She felt her heart sink.

_He's so close to my brother. Why in the name of StarClan would he choose to live with those cold-blooded MoonClan cats instead of us?_

Brightkit looked up at Gingermoon whose eyes were clouded with grief.

_Gingermoon's going to miss him too. He would've made a great friend and family member for the four of us._

"Mama, where's Sunkit going?" mewed Drizzlekit with confusion. Gingermoon sighed as she looked down at her tiny kit.

"He has chosen MoonClan over us. _MoonClan_. Drizzlekit, tell me, am I really that bad of a mother?" Drizzlekit shook her head almost instantly.

"I think that you're the perfectest and couldn't be better!" Drizzlekit reassured her honestly, "But it was Sunkit's decision, and he thinks of MoonClan as his birth clan. That's probably the reason why he went back."

"Thank you, Drizzlekit." Gingermoon purred.

"Yeah, you're the best!" squealed Squirrelkit as he leapt onto her back. Gingermoon then looked down upon Brightkit.

"I think that you are just as kind and beautiful as my birthmother," Brightkit whispered quietly. Gingermoon's amber eyes were suddenly lit with emotion. It then struck Brightkit right after she spoke.

_Gingermoon, Squirrelkit, and Drizzlekit add up perfectly to Frostbreeze and Shadowkit. After all, they are my _true_ family now._

Two moons had passed since Sunkit had left the clan, and Darkstar had decided to hold a clan meeting. It was sun high, when the flames of the Fire Rock were highest, when Darkstar said the words the three kits had been waiting for moons.

"Brightkit, from now on you'll be known as Brightpaw. Your mentor will be Ebonyflight! We hope your cheerfulness and sense of awareness shall give FlameClan a great gift," said Darkstar stiffly.

"Brightpaw! Squirrelpaw! Drizzlepaw!" cheered the Clan. Squirrelpaw stood beside his mentor, a dark grey cat called Duskstorm, while Drizzlepaw muttered something under her breath about Sunkit. Brightpaw rolled her eyes.

Drizzlepaw had been acting different ever since Sunkit had left FlameClan, and most of the Clan was worried about her.

Brightpaw met Squirrelpaw's violet eyes, gave a slight nod towards Drizzlepaw and rolled her eyes. Squirrelpaw looked like he was fighting back a laugh as the meeting came to a close.

Brightpaw bounced around her black mentor, swamped with an excitement she had never experienced before. "Can we go hunting?" she begged.

"Now, now, calm down!" giggled Ebonyflight, clearly over-excited herself with her first apprentice finally having arrived. "We're going on border patrol with Drizzlepaw and Wolfheart."

"Which border?" piped up Drizzlepaw. Brightpaw noticed a hopeful look in her green eyes that she could hardly detect, but it was definitely there.

"MoonClan," growled Wolfheart, Drizzlepaw's scruffy brown mentor,

"Thank StarClan," Drizzlepaw breathed under her breath, and Brightpaw looked at her in surprise. What's so important about patrolling MoonClan?

"Are you okay?" she hissed at her friend.

Drizzlepaw looked startled, but nodded. "I'm fine! Now, let's get going!"

They trotted along the border, Brightpaw gazing about her with big light green eyes, trying to take in everything her gaze could see.

"Everything's HUGE!" Drizzlekit meowed.

"Big, isn't it?" laughed Wolfheart. "I remember my first time out of camp."

Brightpaw didn't even remember this wasn't her first time out of camp; she was drifting so far from her memories. She had almost forgotten everything.

Except for Shadowkit.

She remembered him vividly, his shimmering golden fur, his sweet blue eyes, his teasing voice, his jet black paw that matched hers exactly…

_"Come on, Blossomkit! Let's go fight off some mangy foxes!" Shadowkit cried, rushing along the forest floor. She noticed a scattered green leaf floating to the earth and before she could do or say anything, Shadowkit gave a huge leap and his black paw snatched it right out of the sky._

_"Nice catch!" she mewed._

_"Thanks!" he said humbly, but anyone could tell he was extremely proud._

_She purred and licked him right behind his ear, and then picked up the leaf in her jaws, but promptly spat it out again. It had a sharp, bitter taste that was totally gross!_

_Looking next to her, she saw Shadowkit laughing like crazy. "Why you—!" she cried out, and_  
_chased him around the clearing._..

Brightpaw laughed at the memory. She could still taste the bitter leaf juice in her mouth.  
The others looked at her weirdly but didn't say anything.

Suddenly they came to the MoonClan border. It smelled strongly of…turtles?

"What's with the turtles?" asked Drizzlepaw, wrinkling her nose at the scent of the weird, shelled animals.

"MoonClan cats eat turtles—I'm sure you've heard nursery tales about it?" said Ebonyflight, looking slightly sick at the smell herself.

"Yeah, but I didn't think that was true at first!" Brightpaw said. "Oh—_yuck_!"

As they were talking about the weirdness of MoonClan—("They must be weird if they actually eat turtles," reasoned Brightpaw)—pawsteps were sounded behind them and suddenly four cats appeared. Two were fully grown, their fur fluffed up, but the other two huddled close behind them, unsure of who these strange cats were. One was a ginger and white she-cat. The other was a cat that Brightpaw recognized—and Drizzlepaw made it clear that she knew him, too.

"SUNKIT!" Drizzlepaw yowled loud enough to scare the prey from the MoonClan to MistClan.

"Its Sunpaw now, and thank you, Drizzlekit," he said curtly; obviously he didn't want his companions to see he had friendships in FlameClan. The two clans weren't allies, after all; MoonClan was allied with EarthClan and FlameClan was with MistClan.

The black-and-white she-cat seemed to be in such a daze she didn't even correct Sunpaw.

"Come on, Sunpaw," growled one of the MoonClan cats. "We'll just leave the FlameClan dirt alone, shall we?"

Wolfheart's hackles raised and he was about to snarl something at the tom but they swept along before he could react. "Fox-hearted killing shells," he muttered.

Brightpaw was shocked. "Do you actually believe that story?"

"They can be so rude sometimes, I find it hard not to believe," Wolfheart said to her. "You'll understand when you're older."

Suddenly there was a loud _FWUMP_, interrupting their conversation. Drizzlepaw had slammed into a tree.

"Are you okay?" asked Ebonyflight.

"Fine," whispered Drizzlepaw, but only Brightpaw noticed the moony look in her eyes.

* * *

**What's wrong with Drizzlekit?**

**Note for Rain: Again, a couple more editing changes and _really_ sorry about that.  
**

**...review I hope?  
**


	11. Chapter Ten: Sunkit

**Aaaaand back to Sunkit again.**

* * *

The sun had sunk below the horizon long before Foxstar and Sunkit were almost back to MoonClan camp. It was about moonhigh, and Sunkit collapsed onto his side, and then got back up, shakily though.

"Let's keep going," Sunkit wheezed, but Foxstar shook his head.

"Are you sure ok to keep moving?" Foxstar asked with some concern, "This is our fifth rest so far." Sunkit felt his legs shaking under his own weight as he looked back up at Foxstar. Sunkit blinked.

"No, I can't take another step." Sunkit admitted. "Do we have to sleep out here tonight?"

"Not at all!" meowed Foxstar, "You are still small enough for me to carry you. Is that alright with you?" Sunkit nodded. Foxstar bent over and lifted Sunkit up by the scruff. Almost instantly his eyes closed.

_I can't wait to see Mosspool and Waterkit again!_ were Sunkit's last thoughts before being swallowed in darkness.

"Sunkit! Sunkit, wake up!"

Waterkit's frantic voice awoke the golden tom from his nightmare—he had been swimming, but the water had soaked into his blood and turned it to ice that shattered, and then a turtle shell had found its way to his heart…the dream had gone on and on until he was nothing but a shell, a killing machine.

"What'd you want?" he yawned sleepily.

"It's been six moons!" she squealed. "Foxstar's calling a Clan meeting—we're going to be apprentices!"

This made Sunkit jerk wide awake. "OhmyStarClan!" he squealed way too fast, and the words all blended together, making it sound like one big word, which made Waterkit start laughing.

"Come on, let's go!" she squealed, bounding towards the nursery exit and then turning back and beckoning with her ginger-and-white tail.

Sunkit quickly scrambled to his paws and bounded after her, where he could hear Foxstar's distinctive mew rumble across the camp.

"Will all cats old enough to break rocks and stones join me in the Moss Cave for a Clan meeting!" he yowled before darting into the gorgeous, shimmering cave where the Clan meetings were held. From there, he bounded onto a tall boulder sticking out of the wall of the cave and looked down with kindness in his eyes as the rest of the Clan gathered below, including Sunkit and Waterkit.

"It has been two moons since I rescued Sunkit from FlameClan—" he began, only to hear yowls of, "Adder-breaths!" and "Poison-blooded killing machines!" But one stern glance from Foxstar made the cats look away fleetingly.

"As I was saying, upon the return of his arrival, all of our catmint storage has gone."

The Clan started muttering among themselves, and shooting annoyed looks at Sunkit, who blinked in surprise.

_Does he _want_ to humiliate me?_

"But on a happier note, now that he is here with us today, I would like to grant him and my daughter Waterkit the responsibilities of being apprentices!" Foxstar yowled, his voice echoing off of the walls so the two kits could hear the statement over and over again.

_Apprentices…apprentices…apprentices…_

"Waterkit," the ginger tom mewed in a deep tone, and she stalked forward bravely, trembling from head to tail-tip. "From this point forward, you shall be known as Waterpaw."  
Waterpaw blinked at him with big blue eyes full of innocence and excitement.

"Your mentor shall be Volefur, for his experience in both fighting and hunting will assist you as you train under his command. Good luck to both of you."

Volefur, a brownish-black tom, stepped forward, and as Sunkit watched, he placed his head on her muzzle; Waterpaw licked his shoulder in return. It was sealed; they were mentor and apprentice.

Sunkit knew his turn was next, but oddly, he didn't feel nervous. What was there to feel nervous about? He was just becoming a higher rank in his Clan.

"Sunkit."

Sunkit sat by the foot of the rock as Foxstar's big eyes looked down at him from above.

Suddenly he seemed very, very small. Maybe there was something to this "nervousness" idea.

"From this moment on you shall be known as Sunpaw, and your mentor shall be Pinecloud! His patience and welcoming hearts will help you grow under your apprenticeship."

A grayish-brown tom walked forward and Sunpaw tentatively licked his shoulder, feeling the rough, coarse fur under his tongue, and he automatically relaxed.

"Sunpaw! Waterpaw! Sunpaw! Waterpaw!" the clan chanted. Sunpaw smiled, liking the attention more then he would admit.

After the meeting was over, Pinecloud pulled him away. "We're going on FlameClan border patrol with Waterpaw and Volefur. Come on!" His rippling pelt shone in the sunlight, and Sunpaw bounded after him.

_I'm finally an apprentice!_ he marveled. _It took so long…but now I'm finally here!_

He wondered airily if Frostbreeze and Blossomkit was watching him now…from StarClan. But as he bounded through the camp entrance, his tail waving excitedly in the air, he shook the though off and continued on his patrol.

* * *

**Yay! Now both Sunkit and Brightkit are now Sunpaw and Brightpaw!**

**Please, tell Rain and I how we're doing by reviewing! (and I don't know why I rimed right there)  
**


	12. Chapter Eleven: Brightpaw

**It took me long enough, but I _finally _worked all the bugs out of this story!**

**And now, its Brightpaw's turn...  
**

* * *

After the border patrol, Drizzlepaw went missing. No one noticed at first, but then she didn't show up for the Clan meeting later on and Brightpaw started to worry.

She met Squirrelpaw in their new den, which she had fixed up, intertwining wildflowers into the nests and adding extra moss and feathers for more comfort. Foxpaw hadn't wanted "the nest treatment" as Drizzlepaw called it, but Eaglepaw accepted, and after Brightpaw had finished, he said it was the best nest he had ever slept in. That made Foxpaw snarl.

"Where do you think Drizzlepaw is?" Brightpaw asked Squirrelpaw in the den.

"No idea," said the tom anxiously, shifting his paws from side to side like he was nervous about something. "She's never gone missing like this before!"

"She wasn't allowed out of camp before, either," Brightpaw reasoned.

"True," muttered Squirrelpaw, who didn't seem to be in a very good mood.

The she-cat sighed. "Well, we have to find her. It's getting dark, and—" she was interrupted by Squirrelpaw's frantic mew.

"What?"

"Of course we're searching for her! We're her friends, and we have to be sure she gets back to the den before StarClan comes out, and Silverpelt shows up, or else she might get in trouble with Darkstar, a crime I'd wish on no cat, no matter who they were!" Brightpaw shuddered.

"Okay, then." Squirrelpaw didn't seem as enthusiastic to rescue his sister as the she-cat was. Brightpaw looked at him suspiciously.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"What did you do for training today?"

"Um, I cleaned out the elder's ticks because I accidentally put a thorn in their bedding." Squirrelpaw sounded uncomfortable. "Why are you asking me this?"

"And where did you get the bedding?" Brightpaw  
thought she knew what was wrong, but she had to make sure first.

"Duskstorm brought it."

"Did you actually go into the forest at all?" the she-cat pressed him.

"Um…well…no."

"That's it, then!" Brightpaw sounded triumphant.

"What's what?" whispered Squirrelpaw.

"You're scared, aren't you? You're scared of the forest, and the badgers and foxes and dogs and Twolegs that might come and hurt you any second! Am I right, or am I right?"

Squirrelpaw flinched. "You're…right." He turned away, looking ashamed of himself.

Feeling a sudden sympathy for her friend, Brightpaw rested her tail over his shoulders. "Sorry I seemed so harsh," she whispered. "I'll protect you, you know."

Squirrelpaw started to shake, whether in fear or anger, Brightpaw didn't know, but suddenly he jerked away from her.

"I can take care of myself!" he snapped. "I'm not a dopey kit anymore, Brightpaw, and I hope you aren't either!" Then he turned tail and darted into the forest.

Brightpaw blinked several times in confusion and followed him uncertainly.

As they walked through the forest, Squirrelpaw still seemed uneasy. Brightpaw wished she could comfort him, but since she didn't even know what was troubling him, she couldn't do anything, just trailed behind him nervously and sniffing the air.

Suddenly an unfamiliar scent slammed itself upon her nose. It smelled sort of like a dog…but it wasn't. Brightpaw concentrated for a moment more before finally realizing what it was.

"FOX!" she yowled just as a ginger streak leapt out of the bushes and caught the brown apprentice unaware.

Squirrelpaw was slammed into a tree and blood immediately began to gush out the side of one ear and the corner of his mouth. He collapsed to the ground and didn't move as the fox grabbed one of his legs with his jaws.

Brightpaw gave a flying leap at the fox, unsheathing her claws as she went. She landed square on its back and started swiping randomly. Tufts of ginger fur flew everywhere. The apprentice closed her eyes, making haphazard moves.

What am I doing? I've never fought before!  
Then her eyes snapped open.

I'm doing it for Squirrelpaw. If I wasn't here, the fox would kill him.

With a new fierceness in her green eyes, Brightpaw bit the confused fox's ears. Blood spurted from the wound and the fox howled in pain.

The she-cat noticed Squirrelpaw limping away towards a bush where he could take shelter.

He's okay! She loosened her grip on the fox for a split second—and the fox threw her off and pinned her to the ground.

Brightpaw twisted and turned under the fox's  
huge paws but couldn't find a way to free herself. The fox's mouth gaped wide above her in a gruesome sneer. It almost seemed like it was laughing at her.

She saw Squirrelpaw try to limp towards her to help but with a flick of her tail she sent him away.

_No! I _can't_ lose you too,_ she pleaded with her mind. He seemed to get the message and stepped away, watching her with big violet eyes.

Brightpaw used her back paws to swipe at the fox' stomach—to no effect.

The fox gave a strange barking noise that sounded oddly like a laugh to Brightpaw. She closed her eyes and shivered.

Great StarClan, this is the end!

Suddenly a black and white streak soared out of nowhere and landed on the back of the fox. The fox gave a cry of pain as the cat hacked away at its back, tufts of bloodied orange fur flying everywhere. Finally the fox fled into a misty part of the forest, releasing Brightpaw. The other cat leapt off of its back, giggling.

"DRIZZLEPAW!" cried Brightpaw, nuzzling her friend. "Where in StarClan's name were you?"

"We were so worried," chimed in Squirrelpaw in a croaky voice. He stood up shakily, and now Brightpaw could see a wound in his leg where the fox had grabbed him that was rapidly squirting blood.

"Um…I just went for a little walk!" said Drizzlepaw with fake cheerfulness in her voice as they walked back to camp. Squirrelpaw looked at her uneasily but didn't say anything.

Brightpaw didn't reply, as she was scenting the air to see where the fox was again.

That's when she scented it.

_MoonClan!_

Were there invading MoonClan cats on her territory? No, it didn't smell like that…but the scent was still fresh somewhere around her…

Suddenly Brightpaw tripped over a rock in the ground and landed in a faceful of black-and-white fur. Drizzlepaw blinked in surprise and stopped as Brightpaw pulled herself up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine," the other panted with a hint of alarm in her voice.

Drizzlepaw blinked but continued walking without any more concern.

Brightpaw, however, was concerned. Now she knew where that MoonClan scent had come from, and she could hardly believe it herself.

But it was true.

MoonClan! Drizzlepaw has been to MoonClan!

Her mouth remained shut for the rest of the trip back to the FlameClan camp.

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**Why was Drizzlepaw on MoonClan's land? Post why you think so in the reviews section!**

**Someone on the Forum had this question earlier: _How did Drizzlepaw defeat a full-grown fox by herself with little to no training? _My answer is that she came at the fox so quickly that she had the element of surprise. Also, she was letting everything lose on that fox, and the third way is that she got _incredibly _lucky on top of all of that.  
**

**So there you have it.  
**


	13. Chapter Twelve: Sunpaw

The sun was high in the sky when the four of them: Waterpaw, Pinecloud, Voleclaw, and Sunpaw returned from patrolling the border where they had come across Brightpaw, Drizzlepaw, and their mentors. For some odd reason, he felt empty ever since the patrol.

"You just need some food," his mentor had said. "Go over there and eat." So Sunpaw had settled down with Raindapple, who had received her official medicine cat name three moons ago, and shared a turtle. Neither of them talked while eating. When they finished, they both walked in opposite directions, Sunpaw heading over to Pinecloud.

"What next?" he asked his mentor.

"You'll see," Pinecloud answered smoothly. "Are you and Waterpaw ready, Voleclaw?"

"Yeah, we'll be right there!" the other meowed, and the twosome came running over to join them before they headed out again.

"Follow us," meowed Voleclaw.

"Okay!" said Waterpaw cheerfully. Sunpaw could tell she was already excited for their next big assignment.

They headed through the trees, which, along with the sun, were making dappled leaf patterns on the forest floor. The apprentices found them fascinating and loved to jump and leap on them, playfully flicking leaves at one another.  
Sunpaw was amazed.

I don't think I've acted this playful since the days with Frostbreeze and Blossomkit!

Eventually the trees opened out into a clearing with three large stone columns in the center of it. "What's this?" Waterpaw squealed, bouncing up to one of them.

"Do we have to climb it?" Sunpaw asked his mentor. Waterpaw was already scrambling to the top of the smallest one.

A chuckle escaped Pinecloud's mouth, and Voleclaw glared at him. "No, apprentices. This is what you do."

He stepped up to one of the pillars and looked at the apprentices to make sure they were watching. They weren't—Waterpaw was trying to push Sunpaw off of the pillar she was climbing.

"Listen," Voleclaw hissed, annoyance in his mew now. "You have to ram your paws against the pillar, like this." He hit one of his rock-hard paws against the pillar and it shook vibrantly, making Sunpaw topple off along with Waterpaw.

"Why would we do that? It'll start bleeding," Waterpaw asked as she got up and dusted herself off.

Voleclaw looked like he was about to snap in annoyance at the young she-cat but he didn't have the chance, as Pinecloud walked in and smiled. "I'll take it from here, Voleclaw."  
He took the place of Waterpaw's mentor and said, "That's exactly the point, Waterpaw. You want to hit all four paws against the pillars until they bleed."

"Until they bleed?" whispered Waterpaw.

"Brutal," Sunpaw muttered on instinct, then remembered what Snowfeather had told him on his very first day awake in the Clan. He smiled.

"But what if they hurt too badly before they bleed? Do we stop then?" asked Waterpaw,  
clearly trying to get out of it in any possible way she could.

"No, it was Moonstar's will to train every apprentice like this, even the medicine cats," Voleclaw stated sternly.

"When you finish one paw, do another until all four are done," Pinecloud continued.

Sunpaw shared a worried look with Waterpaw. How will we walk back?

His mentor seemed to read his mind. "When you've finished all four paws, we'll carry you back to camp to get treated. Understand?"

Both of them nodded their heads.

"Then begin!"

Waterpaw seemed hesitant to start, so the tom dove right in, slamming his front right paw, the only black one against his sunny yellow form, against the pillar. Right away it began to sting as if it was on fire. He flinched and the she-cat seemed to flinch as she noticed his pain.

"Does it hurt already?" she asked nervously.

"Brutal," was all Sunpaw could reply as he clenched his teeth and slammed his paw again. "Brutal."

Waterpaw, after another minute of observing him, stalked slowly up to the pillar next to Sunpaw and pushed her paw against it tentatively.

"Not like that," the tom hissed through gritted teeth. "Like this!" With one final whack against the pillar, his black paw began to bleed. Ignoring the rapidly spreading scarlet marks, he started on his next paw. Waterpaw began to hit her paws harder, and Sunpaw saw her flinch each time her white-and-ginger paw slammed against the rock.

When the tom finished his second paw, the sun had already set and the sky had turned into an obsidian shade of black. Stars appeared in the sky like glittering snowflakes, twinkling down at the two bloody-pawed apprentices teasingly.

"Tired yet?" asked Voleclaw through a loud yawn. Sunpaw noticed Waterpaw grit her teeth in anger; she had just finished her second paw, and was on to her third.

"Quite tired, yes," she snapped.

"Not really," Sunpaw replied; for some odd reason he felt energy coursing through his veins like fire. His fourth paw was almost complete—so close—so close—

What was that?

A familiar scent had found its way to Sunpaw's nose. He sniffed again, hardly daring to believe it. It couldn't be true—it just couldn't!

"What's distracting you, Sunpaw?" Pinecloud asked curiously. "You're almost there, come on, you can do it!"

But his mentor's words of encouragement meant nothing to the young apprentice as he sniffed the air again, his ears twitching. It didn't seem possible—but it was!

His fears were confirmed as he spotted a black and white shape flash for a heartbeat through the trees. The burnt scent of FlameClan landed near him again—it was a wonder none of the others had noticed it.

Sunpaw sat down and cocked his head slightly.

Drizzlepaw?

"Sunpaw!" yelled Pinecloud. "What are you doing? You know you're almost done—you can't stop now!"

"Don't slack off, Waterpaw!" Voleclaw yelled next to him.

"Sorry," the tom apologized, and with one final hit his fourth paw was bleeding heavily. Hardly listening to the praise of his mentor and his "sister," Sunpaw spent the last moments before he fell asleep on his paws wondering if he had just imagined his FlameClan friend.


	14. Chapter Thirteen: Brightpaw

**...not much to say right now...**

**But I can remember that it took forever for Rain to write this one for some reason...  
**

* * *

"Lower your haunches…lower…lower…ah-ha! Perfect!" Ebonyflight cried, directing her apprentice in the skills of hunting.

Brightpaw stopped and froze, shaking slightly from her own weight on her small legs, her tail slapping the ground and her belly fur skimming the grass, still wet from the morning dew.

"Now crawl forward—very slowly," whispered her obsidian-colored mentor.

Brightpaw pulled herself along the ground, careful not to make a sound. Her bright green eyes were fixed on her prey. She had practiced the hunting crouch for so long before this…she just had to make it…she just had to…

"Now leap!"

The silver she-cat leapt onto the squirrel and bit it fiercely. Blood spurted from the puncture wound as she leapt up, her fat prey dangling from her jaws, the corners of her mouth turned up in a happy and proud smile.

"Well done!" Ebonyflight's amber eyes glowed  
with pride.

"Thanks!" Brightpaw spat the squirrel onto the ground and kicked dirt over it, anticipating the moment when she would get to bring it back up to her Clan. Who would eat it? Maybe Fangscar, the elder, or Berryfrost, the deputy. Maybe even Darkstar himself!

"Did you catch that?"

The soft mew interrupted Brightpaw's thoughts, and she whirled around, unsheathing her claws as she did. The voice was not one she had ever heard in FlameClan before; herby meaning there was an intruder on her territory! Why wasn't Ebonyflight doing anything?

Her pine green eyes landed on a small white she-cat with patches of grey on her pelt. Her eyes were a soft amber, not fiery colored like Ebonyflight's, and were trained admiringly on Brightpaw's squirrel.

"Um…yes, I did," the apprentice stuttered, stunned by seeing this cat on her territory. Who was she?

"Featherspirit!" Ebonyflight cried, rushing up to the she-cat and twining her tail in the other's. They exchanged licks and then Brightpaw's mentor turned back to her. "Brightpaw, meet Featherspirit. She's my sister."

"Your sis—what?" The apprentice took a startled step back and stared at the other in surprise. "I didn't know you had a sister."

"That's because she lives in MistClan," said Ebonyflight sadly.

I was right! She is from another Clan! Brightpaw thought triumphantly. Then it hit her and she cocked her head to one side. "But…but then how are you two sisters?"

"Our mother was named Poppybird, and she was a valiant warrior of FlameClan," Ebonyflight began the story. "One day she was patrolling the border and she met a MistClan cat known as Birchfur. They fell for each other at first sight and began secretly meeting, despite all of the rules in the warrior code discussing the matter. One day Poppybird learned she was expecting his kits, and it scared her, because at the time in FlameClan, there was a terrible sickness going around the Clan and she didn't want her kits to catch it. When we were born, she was going to take both Featherspirit and me to MistClan to avoid the sickness, but when she got there, she learned that Birchfur had died from greencough a few sunrises before. Disgusted, Poppybird left Featherspirit in MistClan and took me back to FlameClan."

Featherspirit took up the story from here; her voice was different from her sister's, calm and soft, even when horrible things were happening in her tale.

"When Ebonyflight—kit then, returned to FlameClan, she was made an apprentice just like I was. We met at a Gathering and became instant friends. We didn't know why, but we felt we each had a connection with one another. Then Ebonypaw returned and realized Poppybird was dying from sickness. In her dying breath she told her what had happened with Birchfur and I, and as soon as our mother died, she sprinted over to MistClan territory and told me."

"Ever since then we've been trying to meet each other as much as possible," the black she-cat concluded.

Brightpaw gaped at the sisters, trying to comprehend it all.

"But…but why did you tell me, of all cats?" she gasped. "There are several others in the Clan that would listen and underst—"

"The reason we told you, of all cats," her mentor repeated, a hint of amusement in her voice, "is because of something about yourself that no other cat has told you. But now, I think you're old enough to know."

"Know…what?"

Ebonyflight took a deep breath. Featherspirit whisked her tail as a way of encouragement under her sister's chin and the black she-cat said, "You're half-clan."

"Half…half-clan? Me?" Brightpaw couldn't believe it. She took one step back and shook her head no. "But…but that doesn't make sense…my mother was a rogue!"

"What was her name, Brightpaw?" Featherspirit asked kindly.

"Stop…stop asking me this! I'm not half-clan! I'm not!" The apprentice yowled, backing up faster now. "A-and her name wasn't one of a warrior, it was a rogue name!"

This was a total lie and she knew it, but Brightpaw didn't want them accusing her of this anymore. She just wanted this conversation to be over.

"Her name was Frostbreeze!" she yowled. "Frostbreeze was my mother!"

She heard excited whispers of, "Frostbreeze?" and "MoonClan" from the two sisters but she didn't care. All she could do now was get away, get away from the nasty words that she knew deep down in her heart were true.

So Brightpaw turned on her heels and ran.

"So Squirrelpaw, is it broken, or sprained, or just plain torn up?" Drizzlepaw asked her brother, her curious gaze locked on his back right leg, the one that the fox had mangled earlier.

"Broken," he said, wincing a little as he tried to put a bit of weight on it.

"Darn fox," said Brightpaw, sticking out her tongue at the invisible enemy.

Suddenly Darkstar's cry rang out over the FlameClan camp.

"Will all cats old enough to catch their own adders gather here under the Fire Rock to hear my words?"

Drizzlepaw and Brightpaw trotted out into the clearing and sat down. Darkstar glared down at them with his silver eyes.

"I have picked the seven cats to go to the Gathering tonight."

There were excited whispers among the crowd.

"These seven are as follows: Whitescar, Maplestep, Berryfrost, Ebonyflight, Oakscar, Drizzlepaw, and Brightpaw. Meeting dismissed." Darkstar leapt down from the seemingly flaming rock and stalked away.

"Us?" cried Drizzlepaw.

"We're going to the Gathering!" squealed Brightpaw.

_Yes! I'm going to the Gathering tonight!_

* * *

**...review please?**_  
_


	15. Chapter Fourteen: Sunpaw

**Hello again.**

**This chapter was _very _fun for me to write!  
**

* * *

The unpleasantly bright rays of the sun crudely awoke Sunpaw the next day. It was probably already sunhigh, he reasoned with himself, based on the brightness of the sun. If there was one thing he liked about Pinecloud being his mentor, it was that he was one of the few mentors that never pushed them to the limit, meaning that he could sleep as long as he wanted after a long or tough day of training. And last night had been both long and tough for the two apprentices.

Looking at Waterpaw's nest, Sunpaw noticed that it was empty. He put his paw on it, and it was cold. Now Voleclaw, he reasoned, was nothing like Pinecloud. He made his apprentices (currently Waterpaw) get up every morning at the crack of dawn to squeeze in extra training.  
Poor Waterpaw.

As Sunpaw trotted out of the den, he was pleased to watch the daily life of the MoonClan cats develop around him. Emberheart and another she-cat, Cloverstep, trotted past him, and if he followed their path, he noticed they were heading for the deep crater in the center of the camp, filled to the brim with water.

Brother and sister Mousethroat and Ripplebrook were sharing tongues in the center of the clearing. Ripplebrook's grayish-blue fur shone in the sun as Mousethroat groomed her ears. Sunpaw marveled at the peacefulness of it all, when a warrior's life could be so dangerous and hard.

The young apprentice walked around the camp again, peeking into dens and occasionally asking cats if they knew where Pinecloud was. No one did. Eventually Sunpaw spotted his mentor's sister, Shrewnose, and decided to ask her.

"Have you seen your brother?" he asked the small brown she-cat.

"Yeah, he just went on a patrol. I'm sorry, but you just missed him," she apologized.

Sunpaw sighed. "Okay, then. Thanks, Shrewno—"

"But," the she-cat continued, "I'll take you out training if you want!"

Sunpaw blinked.

"Pinecloud told me that if you woke up and asked for him, I could take you out to learn new things!" Her green eyes brightened, and the apprentice realized that she hadn't had a cat to teach in all the time he had been in MoonClan. "Would you like that?"

"Sure!" Sunpaw agreed cheerfully.

"Great! What have you not learned to do yet?" Shrewnose asked him curiously.

The sun-yellow tom had to think for a moment before he replied promptly, "I haven't learned to hunt yet."

"Really?" she mewed. "My brother is more behind with his apprentice training than I thought! But I just realized I can't take you training—you still haven't had your paws treated!"

Sunpaw looked down at his feet only to see dried blood coated all over every inch of them. His blue eyes widened in shock. "Wow."

"You ought to go to Shellclaw or Raindapple about that," Shrewnose confided.

"Okay, I'll go now," the tom said as he headed for the ridge that was a trail to a colossal boulder. This boulder held the elder's den, the leader's den, and the medicine cat den at the very top. Each den had a specific ridge that lead to it.

Sunpaw curved to the right, knowing this was the way to the den of the medicine cats. Once there, he quickly bumped into the fluffy silver tabby, Shellclaw. As soon as the medicine cat spotted his bloodied paws, he was beckoned in.

As the silver tabby put a marigold poultice on his paws, he mewed something that totally caught the apprentice unaware.

"I knew that you were half-clan the moment I first saw you."

Sunpaw blinked. "I'm…what? Well, I kind of knew, because I could get through the fire and—" He quickly closed his mouth, realizing he had said too much. Shellclaw chuckled.

"It's okay, I'm not going to tell Foxstar. I knew about your parents too. In fact, you act just like your father. And your paw…it's just like his."

"So Shadowbird didn't murder my mother after all?" Sunpaw whispered. "He's my…"

"Father, correct."

"But…but how…?" the apprentice stuttered.

"Your father was a courageous warrior," Shellclaw started, "but he was also kind-hearted. Like you. I knew that your mother was with Shadowbird because one night I was collecting oak leaves and I saw them together. I knew the right thing to do was tell Foxstar but they just looked so happy together…I couldn't break their bond. I think Frostbreeze must have seen me, because she told Shadowbird. Due to this Shadowbird ran away from the Clans and didn't come back."

Sunpaw stared at the medicine cat in awe.  
Suddenly a question came to mind.

"Were you…close to Frostbreeze?"

"As a matter of fact, she was my sister."

"Your sister?" whispered Sunpaw. "Does that mean…we're kin?"

"Correct," murmured Shellclaw as his amber eyes twinkled merrily. Placing the final marigold poultice on his black paw, the medicine cat stepped back to examine his work.

"We are lucky to have you, Sunpaw," he murmured.

Sunpaw's heart swelled—he felt he had never been this happy in his entire life. Finally he knew the truth!

The only problem was Blossomkit. She would never know her father's ancestry, or her mother's. She was dead now, alone in the stars, with their mother.

_Poor Blossomkit._

Shellclaw's words brought him back to the present time. "Be back here tomorrow to get more of the poultice. Don't do anything but rest today—if you walk on it too much your paws will bleed more. Understood?"

"Yes, Shellclaw, I'll look forward to it," Sunpaw purred.

"Goodbye!" the medicine cat yowled as the apprentice headed down the ridge towards his den. When he peered in inside, he noticed Waterpaw's nest was still empty. But he didn't think about it at all as he settled down in his nest—as a matter of fact, he didn't think about anything except for the father he never had, the mother he had left behind, and the sister he had lost to the stars.

* * *

**The next chapter will be interesting... :)**


	16. Chapter Fifteen: The Gathering

**Here's a long chapter- its also another flip-flop.**

**For some reason, it starts in Sunpaw's POV instead of Brightpaw...  
**

* * *

Sunpaw awoke from his rest after the medicine cat den to see that the sun was setting. The vibrant colors of pink and yellow echoed across the sky. Quickly glancing at his paws, the apprentice grinned to see that they were no longer bleeding.

He slowly got to his paws and trotted out of the apprentice's den, and his blue eyes quickly spotted that the MoonClan cats were all heading for the Moss Cave.

_A Clan meeting! And I almost slept through it!_

Sunpaw ran as fast as he could to catch up to the cave, but it was in vain, for he only heard the final words his adopted father spoke in an excited, strong voice.

"…Pinecloud, Cloverstep, Mosspool, and Sunpaw."

_What was that all about?_

"This meeting is now dismissed," the apprentice heard Foxstar say before the ginger tom came out of the cave and walked up to the curious apprentice.

"What was that Clan meeting for?" Sunpaw blurted out.

"Hmm?" his leader replied, obviously lost in thought.

"I only heard the last couple of words you said," Sunpaw admitted, looking down at the ground. He didn't want Foxstar to know he had been oversleeping…again!

"I have just selected the cats to come with me to the Gathering," his 'father' mewed to him, and the apprentice gasped.

"Wait, wait, wait! It's the full moon already? And you've chosen an apprentice who doesn't know how to hunt or fight yet? How does that make any sense?"

Foxstar chuckled as he nodded. "I'm the Clan leader, Sunpaw. I don't have to make sense."

Sunpaw had to nod his head and laugh a little in agreement.

"Anyways, the training session that you had to do a couple nights back? Most apprentices quit in the middle of it. You deserve it."

"Waterpaw didn't qui—"

"She's my daughter, and I don't want the Clan to think I'm favoring her. Now come along." His eyes sparkled with merriment.

_...But I'm your son, right? _Sunpaw pondered uncomfortably. He said nothing.

"It's time to go to the Gathering."

Darkstar raised his tail, and Brightpaw could smell many, many cats. Her whole body began to quiver with excitement as her leader lowered his jet-black tail and the eight FlameClan cats rushed into the hollow. A swarm of cats pressed around her, cats of all color, shape, and size.

A huge MoonClan she-cat's paws were as big as her head! And the leaders from all the different Clans were magnificent, silhouetted against the moon. Of course, Darkstar she knew, and a bright ginger tom she recognized as Foxstar, leader of MoonClan. But the other two were new faces, and Brightpaw was curious to investigate them.

One was a slender tortoiseshell she-cat with bright blue eyes. Her tail was always flicking, and there was a fire in her gaze that made you think she was thinking like a kit, not a serious Clan leader. When she lifted her paw to groom it, Brightpaw saw that she had soft pink pads, like a kittypet's, not the hard, rough ones of the forest cats. How did this kit-like warrior get to be leader?

The other cat was a tom, a large, muscular brown one with piercing amber eyes. His gaze looked…powerful, in a way, as if he wasn't afraid to back down to any challenge thrown at him.

Suddenly she heard quick pawsteps approaching her and Drizzlepaw, and as she turned, she blinked several times. He resembled her brother so…so much.

"Hey, Sunpaw!"

"Hey, you guys!" Sunpaw called, still panting, presumably from his long run to the Gathering Place. "How's it going?"

"Great, how 'bout you?" the silver apprentice answered. Drizzlepaw stopped looking up at the kit-leader and turned around with that moony look in her eyes.

"Good!" Sunpaw seemed really excited to be here at the Gathering, and Brightpaw couldn't blame him as she gazed into his ice blue eyes.

Are you Shadowkit? You look like him. You sound like him, you act like him…oh StarClan, please let it be true!

Then she pushed the thought out of her mind. I can't disappoint myself again with worthless thoughts that aren't even true.

She shook her head and sighed in defeat.

_Will my life ever be normal?_

"Your paws!" gasped Drizzlepaw suddenly. "What happened?"

Sunpaw blinked, realizing that after he had taken the poultice after his paws he still hadn't washed off the blood, and now it was on display for every cat at the Gathering. Great. Just great.

"Well, you see, if you want to be a true MoonClan cat you have to do one special training session first. "You're forced to ram your paws on these three rock columns until they bleed, and I had no time to wash out the blood, so here I am with bloodied paws!" he tried to explain as fast as he could. Slowly Drizzlepaw's green eyes seemed to sparkle with understanding.

"Oh, so that's why you we—" she started, before cutting short and looking as fast as she could at the ground, like she had said something wrong. Sunpaw couldn't help noticing how in the moonlight, her pretty black and white fur seemed to glow.

"So, yeah," he muttered. "How's your training going?"

Sunpaw kept looking up at Drizzlepaw, who seemed to be lost in her own world, as if she was staring off into space. Only in this case, "space" appeared to be him. Her green eyes were locked on like little rays of green fire.

What's up with her?

Brightpaw answered his training question, but only half-heartedly, as if she were concentrating on something totally different all of a sudden. "Great, I caught a squirrel."  
Then she seemed to notice her friend's odd behavior and shoved her over. Drizzlepaw jumped up with an indignant mrrow.

"What was that?" she yelped.

"You were staring off—you looked like you were in some kind of trance," said Sunpaw,  
thoroughly amused. Drizzlepaw ducked and turned her head away, probably trying to hide her embarrassment.

Suddenly Ebonyflight bounded up to her apprentice. "Brightpaw, you can't spend the whole Gathering talking to one cat! Come on!" She grabbed Brightpaw's scruff, just as she had three moons ago when she was a kit, and darted off.

The black she-cat stopped in front of the slender MoonClan she-cat and a smaller MistClan tom. The tom was a little bit bigger than Brightpaw, though, and he was fluffy and white.

"Brightpaw, these cats are Cloverstep from MoonClan and Cloudpaw, from MistClan," Ebonyflight purred.

"Hello," Cloverstep purred out a greeting to the young apprentice. "FlameClan, are you?" She made a quick glance down at Brightpaw's paws and glanced at Ebonyflight suspiciously. The black she-cat gave a quick shake of her head, like you don't want to mention that.

"Hi!" Cloudpaw purred. "This is my second Gathering—what 'bout you?"

"First," Brightpaw said nervously, loosening up a little bit and looking down at the ground. She felt deep inside her that she would like talking with this young cat. The Gathering would turn out to be fun.

_With no worries about my family. They're all dead now_, she told herself firmly.

With Brightpaw gone, things were starting to get really weird for Sunpaw.

"Uhh…hello? Drizzlepaw? What's wrong with you? Drrrrrizzzzlepaaaaawww?" The MoonClan apprentice tried his best to get the other out of her trance, but nothing seemed to work—until he took two steps forward and pushed her over. "Hello?" he said, leaning over her.

"Nothing's wrong! Nothing at all!" Drizzlepaw smiled cheerfully but her voice was tense and  
quick.

"Maybe we should go see if we can meet more apprentices, you know, from MistClan and EarthClan," mewed Sunpaw, now freaked out because of how strange the she-cat was acting. The blank expression in her jade green eyes scared him especially.

"O-okay!" she said, sounding content as she shook her head to clear herself of her daze.  
As they trotted around the clearing, they were approached by a rather large brown tabby she-cat. She looked as if she must have been a warrior for at least two moons, but when she made her introduction, Sunpaw had to blink in surprise.

"Hi, my name's Rabbitpaw, what's yours?"

Stunned silence followed, in which Drizzlepaw continued her blank staring and Sunpaw looked at the ground uncomfortably. "Um, my name's—"

"Oh, it's my size, isn't it?" Rabbitpaw spat at the ground. "Redflight and Seedfur told me cats would stare…It's not my fault, you know. I was quite a sickly kit. Had to stay in the nursery four extra moons, explaining how I look now. But hey, who cares, right?" She looked pleadingly at Sunpaw and he found himself automatically nodding, though he didn't know why.

"Anyways, my name's Sunpaw, and this is my friend Drizzlepaw," he introduced himself and his companion.

"What Clan are you guys from?" the brown tabby asked excitedly.

"MoonClan," Sunpaw mewed, and was about to reply "and Drizzlepaw's FlameClan" but he didn't get the chance.

"Yippie, we're allies! I'm an EarthClan cat, by the way," Rabbitpaw purred as she bounced up and down and every which way.

"But…but I'm FlameClan!" Drizzlepaw stuttered and immediately the EarthClan's yellow eyes got wild and scared. She began to back away one pawstep at a time.

"What's wrong?" the black-and-white cat asked, hurt clearly in her green eyes.

"You m-mean that bloodthirsty Clan with the warrior who drowned F-Frostbreeze?" Rabbitpaw half spat, half wailed.

"They did no such thing!" Sunpaw burst out, feeling an odd compulsion to help his friend. Then he remembered that he, along with the rest of his Clan, was supposed to believe that Shadowbird drowned Frostbreeze. "I mean, um…"

"Why do you care which warriors we had and which we killed in battle?" Drizzlepaw stammered. She didn't seem to understand that this was Sunpaw's mother Rabbitpaw was talking about, making him feel a pang of dread because only he and Shellclaw knew the truth. "If we did kill that cat, Frost-whatever-her-name-was, it was probably for a good reason! Was she trespassing on our territory? Stealing herbs, or prey? Did she kill one of our warriors?" With each accusation, Sunpaw felt his heart sink lower.

"She saved my life," Rabbitpaw murmured.

"Pardon?" Sunpaw stuttered, and Drizzlepaw looked amazed as well.

"A battle against MistClan…I was pinned down, the giant tom's paw directly on my neck…I thought for sure I was going to join StarClan, but Frostbreeze came out of nowhere and tackled him to the ground. Her muzzle was badly hurt, and we lost the battle, but my mentor, Lionfur, and I, were both happy I didn't lose my life in the process. It was all thanks to her."

"W-wow," the golden apprentice sputtered. His mother was so brave, and kind, and daring! He wished he could have known her better. "D-did you hear that awesome story, Drizzlep—"

But when he looked up, the black and white apprentice was gone, as if she had disappeared into the wind.

"…and so I crept up on it, as low as I could go…I felt like a snake! From up close it looked like it was way, way bigger than I was, so I got kind of nervous, but then I leapt and felt its body squish beneath my claws. Warm blood flowed out, running along my paws as I grasped the body in my mouth and brought it back to the camp. I'm pretty sure Duskstorm shared it with his sister, Flowerbreeze…"

Brightpaw concluded her story and Cloudpaw nodded in approval. "Sounds like it was an awesome first catch!"

"Oh, it was, it wa…" Brightpaw trailed off as she noticed, out of the corner of her eye, Drizzlepaw darting into a clump of bushes near the edge of the clearing. Her eyes showed immense pain and hurt. What could have happened to her that made her hide like this?

Cloudpaw's voice interrupted her next thoughts. "So you're in FlameClan, correct?"

"Yes," Brightpaw answered shyly.

"Thank goodness you're allies with me and not MoonClan," he purred as he curled his tail around her shoulders. Then his gaze, so happy, seemed to darken. "My father was in a battle with a MoonClan warrior and an EarthClan apprentice. He beat the apprentice but the warrior destroyed him. Badly. The wounds still hurt him, and after they became infected, he was forced to move to the elder's den. His name was Smoketail, deputy of MistClan. He was my hero. And then that silver MoonClan cat took him down like it was nothing…"

Brightpaw's gaze flooded with emotion. "I-I'm so sorry," she murmured.

Why must we fight?

She looked at Cloudpaw with sadness in her gaze, though he looked back at her and cracked a small smile.

Suddenly Cloverstep's ears pricked at a faraway yowl. "That's Foxstar!" she cried. "The Gathering is starting!"

"MoonClan would like to announce that we have two new apprentices, Sunpaw and Waterpaw!"

All four Clans cheered, though Sunpaw noted that MistClan and FlameClan didn't cheer as loudly as EarthClan did. Then he grinned, seeing Brightpaw and Drizzlepaw cheering with enthusiasm.

"I would also like to announce that Cloverstep will move to the nursery tomorrow!" Everyone cheered again, and Sunpaw shot an amazed glance at the young she-cat, who smiled shyly and glanced at the ground.

"We have also noticed a fox on our side of the border, so watch your tails, everyone," the ginger leader said gravely. A loud hiss came from the bushes at the side of the clearing, and glancing back, the apprentice spotted Drizzlepaw's ears flattened back in a snarl.  
What connection would she have with a fox?

Foxstar stepped back and nodded to the pretty tortoiseshell she-cat he had seen earlier, who looked up with startling sky-blue eyes and mewed in a soft, slightly accented voice, "The cats of MistClan are doing well; we have made three new warriors! They are Fernpelt, Stonewillow, and Streamfur!"

The cats of MistClan and FlameClan cheered loudly, and the other two Clans only half-heartedly.

Suddenly there was a loud yowl from a brown and black tom. "Hollystar," he cried. "Something horrible has just happened."

"Branchstripe?" Hollystar mewed,  
surprised. "Why are you here? I thought you were staying back to looked after Smoketail tonight."

A puffy white tom standing next to Brightpaw let out a choked gasp, as if he knew what the tom was going to say. Sunpaw vaguely remembered learning Branchstripe was MistClan's medicine cat.

"Smoketail's wounds got the best of him…he's dead." The medicine cat was grave, and the little puffy tom let out a wail of horror.

"NO! He-he couldn't be…he…he…" The tom began to choke on his own words. "I didn't even get to s-say goodbye!"

"Poor kit," whispered Mosspool sadly as her dark brown tabby fur fluffed up. Sunpaw also felt a stab of sympathy for the rival apprentice.

_What would I do if I lost Foxstar?_

Sunpaw's belly flipped over just thinking about it and quickly pushed the thought from his mind, though it was hard to keep it out because of the apprentice's choked screams, being repeated over and over again.

"B-but I didn't get to say goodbye!"

After Cloudpaw had been escorted back to the camp to mourn his dead father's body, Darkstar stepped forward as the kittypet-looking-leader Hollystar took a few steps back and nodded at him. Brightpaw felt her chest puff out with pride as her leader's silver gaze swept the watching cats.

"FlameClan has made three new apprentices, Brightpaw, Squirrelpaw, and Drizzlepaw!"  
FlameClan and MistClan cheered, and so did MoonClan (but only half-heartedly) but Brightpaw noticed that the EarthClan cats were keeping their mouths shut entirely. A growl began to form in the back of her throat but she pushed it away.

Drizzlepaw popped her head out of the bushes to receive the praise, but when she spotted the EarthClan cats she ducked under again.

"Squirrelpaw was unable to attend the Gathering because his back leg was mangled by a fox, most likely the one Foxstar mentioned earlier, so please be careful." Darkstar's voice did not sound as kind as his words.

Brightpaw's fur bristled. That fox! It almost killed me and Squirrelpaw. If it hadn't been for Drizzlepaw, we'd both be dead.

"We also have a new warrior, who was held back because of a battle injury but is now ready to join her brother, Duskstorm: Flowerbreeze!" Darkstar announced and the Clans cheered. The black tom turned and nodded to the big brown tom, who stepped forward.

"EarthClan is thriving. The fox that you've mentioned had a den, and we drove out her cubs," he mewed in a gruff voice.

MoonClan and EarthClan cheered, though Brightpaw noticed Drizzlepaw's fur spiked up as she hissed.

"We have also made two warriors: Oakcloud and Addertail!"

The cats cheered. "EarthClan has nothing else to report," the tom said, stepping back.

"Then may the Gathering be over," cried Hollystar, leaping down from the rock. Darkstar came down too, beckoning his clan with a wave of his tail.

"Goodbye," Brightpaw yelled out to Sunpaw before they dashed out of the clearing. They soon reached the camp, where Brightpaw felt a blast of exhaustion.

She and Drizzlepaw plopped into their nests immediately. The black and white cat dropped off to sleep right away, but Brightpaw stayed awake, thinking about all the new things she had learned. Then, unknowingly, she lazily drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**So... done with the second flip-flop chapter.**

**It was pretty long, wasn't it?  
**

**Again, can you please review?  
**

**Thanks! -Adlet and Rain  
**


	17. Chapter Sixteen: Sunpaw

**HIHIHIHIHIHIHI! This is the co-author (and inventor of the idea, smirk) Rain! Also known as Rainpath117 on the forums! I want to say thanks for reviews and ideas and STUFF! (Sorry, I'm spazzy because I love so much, but I don't have an account ****) and if anyone out here knows about the Sonic the Hedgehog fanfic It Started in the Cafeteria by ScarstarOfMountainClan, THAT IS AWESOME! I'm getting off topic…back to Leo!**

**Heh heh, now back to Adlet! Rain's very happy with how this story's coming out… **

**So now… back to Supaw!**

* * *

"So, what happened?"

Sunpaw glared at Waterpaw as she bounced around him out of pure excitement. "You've asked me that about thirty times already."

"And you haven't responded once! So…what happened?"

Sunpaw put his paws over his ears as he collapsed in his nest. "I can't talk…way too tired…"

"Tell me in the morning?" Waterpaw begged, but Sunpaw couldn't answer. He was already softly sighing, his flank rising and falling rhythmically in the pattern of sleep.

Clouds of mist blew into the golden apprentice's face and drenched him to his skin. Sunpaw tried to run through the mist but all of his attempts failed. It seemed like he was stuck in a world of fog.

Suddenly the shape of a familiar cat leapt out of the mist. The she-cat's gaze swept over him, making his tail flick from side to side in confusion.

_Who is that?_

She came a little bit closer to him, her eyes gleaming, and with a start, Sunpaw realized it was none other than Drizzlepaw.

_Why is she here?_

Sunpaw tried to speak, but his voice was choked with nervousness. _Why am I nervous?_

As her scent, sweet, even though she came from a place full of burning flames and dead trees, wafted around his nose, the apprentice felt himself automatically purr. Her green eyes shone with pleasure.

_What's wrong with me?_

The golden cat tried to run, but Drizzlepaw chased him. Finally his ice blue eyes turned to face her pine green ones.

_Why is she still following me?_

Her tail twined in his and Sunpaw felt nothing but everlasting peace as he purred, completely content.

Sunpaw's eyes flew open to see Pinecloud prodding his shoulder.

"We need to get you and Waterpaw caught up in you training, come on outside! I'm going to teach you how to hunt today!" The brown tom smiled before sprinting out of the den.

_Why is he so happy?_ the golden tom questioned in his mind. _Why is he not nearly as punishing towards me sleeping in _again_?_

"Pinecloud," he yowled after his mentor. "What's up with you today?"

Pinecloud turned, surprise sparking in his gaze. "Well, can't you see? I'm going to be a father!"

"Huh?"

"Cloverstep—she moved to the nursery last night? Well, she's going to have my kits!" Pinecloud bounced up and down, and Sunpaw had to smile a bit at the sight.

"Congratulations!" he purred at his mentor.

"Thanks," the brown tom panted—probably out of breath because of his bouncing. "Now come on, let's go to the forest!"

Sunpaw followed his mentor out of the camp, his nose twitching anxiously to take it all in. The sights, the sounds, everything was so beautiful. Pinecloud stopped, his ears twitching, and tilted his head to one side.

"A turtle is nearby," he meowed. "You don't need any training at all to catch them."

Pinecloud began to trot over to a large hawthorn bush. Anxious to find out what he was going to do, Sunpaw followed him. Quickly he spotted the turtle—a large grey and brown thing. It withdrew its head into its shell as soon as it spotted the cats, and Pinecloud smirked.

He whisked into the shell and unsheathed his claws—of course Sunpaw couldn't see him do so, but he heard the satisfying click—and then tossed the turtle over to his apprentice. The golden tom stared down at it in amazement. "Is it…"

"Dead," Pinecloud rolled his eyes. "See? Easy."

"So…is that it?" Sunpaw mewed, a little disappointed at how easy it was to hunt. Why was it so hard to bring back food in leaf-bare if all you had to do was this?

Pinecloud smiled. "No, that's not it. Personally, I thought having a turtle as a first catch would be very depressing, so I decided that I'll teach you to catch something like a rabbit, or a squirrel. You might be better off catching one of those anyways—for a MoonClan cat, your paws are quite small."

Sunpaw stared in dismay. Had Pinecloud figured out that he was Half-Clan?

"But everyone's different, and we can easily use you to our advantage," his mentor finished, and the apprentice felt a sigh of relief bubbling up inside of him.

_Phew!_

"Speaking of which," Pinecloud whispered, leaning down next to the golden tom, "there's a rabbit right over there." With his long, dusty brown tail, he pointed, and Sunpaw's eyes widened at the sight of a plump white creature.

_I get to catch that?_

"Chase it down and kill it with a bite to the neck. Don't worry about stalking right now—this one is close enough that you can just run at it. You got it?"

Sunpaw nodded, but he wasn't very sure of his answer.

"Go!" Pinecloud hissed, smiling encouragingly at his apprentice.

The golden apprentice leapt up from behind the hawthorn bush, landed right beside the rabbit unintentionally, and it bolted. Blood pounded in his ears as his paws trampled the ground. With each bound he got closer, and closer, until his paws didn't feel fresh grass under them, just dry, hard earth. But he had to catch that rabbit. It was so close!

A voice echoed somewhere distantly. "Hey! Get off our territory!"

The rabbit is mine!

Sunpaw ran as fast as he could, in an all out sprint before he leapt in a wild leap and tumbled onto the rabbit. Before it could squirm away from him, he bit its neck and it went still. Ecstatic joy ran through him.

_I did it!_

He took three pawsteps forward—

—and fell into a hole.

"About time you fell into one of those," the voice he had heard while running panted. Sunpaw looked up in surprise to see an unfamiliar brown-and-white tom glaring down at him—and then he realized that, looking around, there were no more trees.

"I'm—I'm so sorry!" Sunpaw stammered, trying to scrabble his way out of the hole with the big dead rabbit in his mouth.

The cat stopped his glaring and began to look at him inquisitively. "Hey…you're that new apprentice from MoonClan, aren't you?"

"Y-yes," he squeaked, now digging his claws into the side and trying to claw his way up the hole. How do EarthClan get out of these things?

"It's okay, stop shaking! It's just me,  
Addertail—did you see me at the Gathering last night?"

Sunpaw blinked and shook his head no.

"And, if you don't mind me asking, why are you on our territory?"

Addertail had a warm smile on his face, but Sunpaw felt horrible inside. He had technically stolen prey from another Clan! His first catch, and he broke the warrior code!

Finally using his back paws to scramble out of the hole, Sunpaw sat there panting. "Here…you have it," he sighed, tossing the rabbit at Addertail's paws. The EarthClan tom blinked in surprise.

"Why—?" he began, but Sunpaw cut him off.

"Because we're allies, and I caught it on your territory, so isn't that prey stealing? Don't I have to give it back to you?" The apprentice stared pointedly at the warrior, knowing he couldn't refuse.

"Well…" Addertail looked uncomfortable, but Sunpaw smiled.

"Just do me a favor and make sure that Rabbitpaw gets some. Is it true that she had to stay in the nursery an extra four moons?"

Addertail nodded. "She was born as an incredibly sickly kit. Her mother, Falconpelt, almost died giving birth to her, Redflight, and Seedfur."

Sunpaw smiled. "Make sure she has a big piece."  
Then he turned and waved his tail in farewell as he trotted away.

"Thank you!" Addertail yowled after him.

As the apprentice crossed the border, he felt a twang of sadness creep up inside of him. His first catch was gone—but to an allied Clan.

"I'm glad I did that, though," he whispered to himself, "because I know I will never meet him in battle."


	18. Chapter Seventeen: Brightpaw

**... no comment...**

**EXCEPT THAT I LIKE PIE. ~Rain (and Blaze is best Sonic, Jayfeather and Cinderheart are best Warriors, Rainbow Dash is best pony, and MOREMOREMOREMOREMOREMOREMORE !)**

**RAIN, BE QUIET. :) NOW.  
**

* * *

"Brightpaw."

The silver she-cat rolled over on her back and groaned, flicking at her ear with one paw, her jet black one.

"Brrrrrightpaw."

The green eyes under the closed eyelids flicked back and forth, warily, searching for someone, something. Her paws stretched out. Her family was just in reach…she would touch her mother's soft fur again…

"BRIGHTPAW!"

"Frostbreeze!" Brightpaw yelped, leaping up and gazing around. Beside her, she spotted Drizzlepaw twitching and mumbling in her sleep. The cat who had awoken her was Eaglepaw, who was now looking at her curiously.

"What're you talking about?" he wondered, and Brightpaw turned away, embarrassed.

"Sorry," she whispered, ducking her tail, and Eaglepaw purred, nodding at her to continue speaking. "What do you need?"

"Wolfheart told me to get you and Drizzlepaw out there for EarthClan border patrol,"  
Eaglepaw said to her, wrapping his tail over her shoulder. "Can you wake Drizzlepaw for me? I have to go hunting with my sister."

"Sure thing," Brightpaw nodded, moving to the left slightly so that his tail flicked off of her back. It felt nice, sure, but it was also really…weird and uncomfortable, in a way. He sensed her movement and seemed to sigh.

"Well…I'll see you around, then?" he whispered in her ear.

Brightpaw blinked her green eyes. "Um, I guess so."

"Good," was Eaglepaw's only reply before slipping out of the apprentice den.

The she-cat found herself staring at the entrance before remembering that she was supposed to wake Drizzlepaw and get outside, so she reached over and prodded her friend in the back.

"Drizzlepaw, time to get up."

"No, Rabbitpaw! No," the black and white cat moaned. Brightpaw blinked, wondering what this could mean, and then decided to just push her over again.

"Drizzlepaw, GET UP!"

When Drizzlepaw's eyes snapped open they were panicked and scared, like she had just gone through a horrifying experience. Her muscles were clenched with tension, but when she saw Brightpaw, she relaxed and sighed.

"We're on border patrol," the silver apprentice mewed. "Come on!"

"Gladly," Drizzlepaw panted, stumbling to her paws. Brightpaw had the feeling that she, like herself, had just had a horrible dream.

Together they headed out the entrance of the den.

Wolfheart and Ebonyflight were waiting, Drizzlepaw's mentor flicking his tail impatiently. "Let's go!" said the black she-cat, starting to head out the entrance of the den, but they were interrupted by a loud mew of triumph from across the camp.

Squirrelpaw came hurtling out of the medicine cat den, no longer limping. He looked totally fine—there were no leaves wrapped around his leg, and nothing more to show than a few bite marks. His violet eyes twinkled as he spotted his friends, and he darted up to them.

"Hey, guys! Guess what, my leg's all better and I can finally train! I'm so excited! A little nervous, but still really, really, really excited!" he grinned.

"That's great!" Brightpaw purred. "Will you be coming with us on our patrol?"

"No, he won't," a gray tom padding out of the warrior's den meowed. "He'll be coming with me to learn the basic fighting and hunting moves."

"Hi, Duskstorm!" Drizzlepaw greeted her brother's mentor.

"Well, just wanted to tell you guys the great news!" Squirrelpaw purred. "Have a great time on your patrol!"

"We will, thanks!" Brightpaw smiled as the brown tom dashed off into the forest.

The EarthClan border was one place Brightpaw hadn't been yet. It had many tunnels poking in and out of the ground, and it smelled of freshly dug earth. There were fresh scent marks from an EarthClan patrol, so they were bound not to run into any cats, thankfully. Although FlameClan was known for its fighting skills, EarthClan was supposedly a force to be reckoned with.

The apprentices were fascinated by the tunnels. Brightpaw was tempted to poke her paw down one, just to see how deep it went, but she didn't want to trespass, so she stayed back hesitantly.

"Where does it lead?" Drizzlepaw wondered out loud.

"Only EarthClan knows, and StarClan hear me, I wouldn't want to find out," muttered Wolfheart darkly. Brightpaw blinked.

_I want to find out._

But she was interrupted by Ebonyflight, who proclaimed loudly, "Well, this is boring! Nothing is happening—Brightpaw, come on, I'll teach you a defense move."

The silver she-cat looked back at Drizzlepaw, who smiled and nodded, inviting her to go on ahead. "Okay," Brightpaw said uncertainly, and followed her mentor back into the heart of the forest.

They finally stopped at a small clearing with shorter grass than normal. "This should do for our training," Ebonyflight said, gazing around her with glimmering amber eyes. "We need a lot of room."

"Why?" the silver cat asked hesitantly, and Ebonyflight laughed.

"Because we'll be doing this!"

She stepped back and narrowed her eyes teasingly. "Run at me."

"You're on!" Brightpaw said excitedly, narrowing her eyes as well. She trotted back at few steps, and then charged at her mentor. But Ebonyflight sprang on her front paws, accomplished an amazing back flip, and landed about a fox-length away from where she started.

Brightpaw was going too fast to stop—she ended up skidding on the slippery leaves and landing flat on her face on the ground. Her face flushed with embarrassment.

_Not even close._

"Come now, don't be embarrassed! I was astonished when Featherspirit showed me that—it's a MistClan move, actually—but it made me all the happier when I finally completed it," Ebonyflight purred, laying her jet-black tail over Brightpaw's silver shoulders. "I'll teach you now. Do you think that you're ready?"

The apprentice nodded, looking up at her mentor with huge green eyes. "I—I don't know if I'll be able to do it, though."

"Just try! It's not that hard when you see how it's done." Ebonyflight's tone was comforting and kind at the very same time, making Brightpaw feel a little bit better.

"Okay, then. Push your front paws up," her mentor started. "Then, when your front paws are up in the air, push your back paws backwards. The timing on this is especially important because if you hesitate too long then you'll be attacked on your belly by your enemy. Control your weight when you're in the air—make your front side heavier than your back—then twist your back legs over your head and land!"

Brightpaw's head was spinning, but she nodded anyways. She pushed her front paws up, wobbled on two legs, and then fell flat on her back. With her head spinning, she groaned.

"Nice first try, but I know you can do better! Just try again," Ebonyflight prompted, and Brightpaw nodded, staggering to her paws. She pushed up on her back too paws and leapt backward without thinking, and now she was in the air. Her back was facing the ground—and Brightpaw panicked, tucking her paws in and leaning her head toward the ground, trying not to break her back. She found her back legs curving over her ears—and then she was staggering on the ground, amazed and just the tiniest bit dizzy. Ebonyflight's amber eyes gleamed with pride and surprise.

_I did it! I really did it!_

"Excellent job!" purred her mentor. "You were amazing! I've never seen a cat complete it on her second try! On second thought, where would I see a cat practicing it…? Oh well, you were great anyways!"

Brightpaw, although dizzy, glowed with pride.

_I love being an apprentice!_ she thought excitedly. It's _the best thing in the world!_

Then a little voice activated in the back of her head.

_Even better than getting Shadowkit and Frostbreeze back?_ the voice asked her teasingly, knowing what would make her mad—and it worked. But Brightpaw pushed it—and painful memories—away, and trotted back to the camp.

* * *

**Do you liek as much as I liek Mudkipz? I'd love to hear from 'ya.**


	19. Chapter Eighteen: Sunpaw

**Listening to **_**Cats: Memory **_**right now.**

**Adlet: If you haven't seen the play yet, go watch it **_**now.**_** Seriously, its amazing. **

**Rain: MUNGOJERRIE AND RUMPLETEAZER IS THE BEST SONG. And Memory is just like Leafpool!**

* * *

"So I gave it to him, and said that he could have it because it technically wasn't mine, it was theirs, because I caught it on their territory…"

For what seemed like the bajillionth time, Sunpaw was telling the story of his rabbit, this time to Emberheart and Snowfeather, who were smiling and looking at each other every once in a while, flicking their tails in amusement.

"And then I left, and came back, and hunted turtles," the apprentice finished, and the two older she-cats smiled.

"Applause, applause," purred Emberheart. "That was the right thing to do, Sunpaw."

Snowfeather nodded. "It would have been awful if EarthClan thought you were prey-stealing, and then stopped being our allies. They're the second strongest fighters in the forest—next to FlameClan, of course. We can really use their help if we're ever in times of trouble."

It was sunhigh, and Newleaf had finally arrived, because the trees were growing their leaves again, in lush, green clumps. Sunpaw had been surprised that morning to find that pretty much all of his kit-fluff had vanished, and now his pelt was smooth and sleek, overwhelming him with both awe and worry.

I guess I'm not a little kit anymore, he mused to himself as the deputy rambled on about battle strategies and which Clan is better at hunting and hiding than the other Clans. His thoughts were broken into by Emberheart, who meowed, "Well, Sunpaw, would you like to patrol the MistClan border with us?"

"You'd have to be extra careful," cautioned Snowfeather. "Those cats can sneak up on you and slice your throat, even in a quiet Greenleaf night, and you'd never even know it." The white deputy flicked her tail and looked expectantly at him for his answer.

Sunpaw shrugged his golden shoulders. "Sure! Why not?"

The three of them quickly bounded out of the camp, everyone concentrating on finding the border instead of talking. It was relatively easy to find, however, because the line was shrouded in mist and smelled faintly of MistClan cats.

Emberheart took off to mark the scents of the MoonClan side of the border, leaving Sunpaw with Snowfeather. She appeared to be snarling at something behind him, so the apprentice turned his head to see the raging river.

That river brought back so many memories it overwhelmed him. The last time he ever saw Frostbreeze and Blossomkit…the first time he ever scented MoonClan and set paw in their territory…

_Did Snowfeather have bad memories associated with the river as well?_

"Uh…Snowfeather?" Sunpaw mewed cautiously. The deputy's head whipped in his direction and looked at him questioningly. "Why are you snarling?"

The white she-cat looked confused. "Was I snarling?" She lowered her head with a sigh. "I'm sorry, but that river brings bad memories for me. When I was about your age, nine or ten moons old, a MistClan cat shoved me in the river in the midst of a battle. I had no idea how to swim, but I was luckily fished out by a fellow apprentice named Featherpaw—a MistClan cat," she added hastily. "Though I don't know her warrior name today, I am forever grateful. She saved my life." Snowfeather looked back at the water and shivered. "I've been afraid of water ever since."

"Why would a MistClan cat save you, a MoonClan cat?" mewed Sunpaw without thinking.

"I still can't figure that out, but the important part is that she did," Snowfeather answered, looking off into the distance at the trees growing their new leaves and the birds soaring around the sky.

The deputy and apprentice were interrupted in their thinking by Emberheart bounding back. "Well, that was uneventful," the grey she-cat rolled her eyes. "I wonder if they've turned soft."

Sunpaw let out a snort of laughter, as Snowfeather mewed, "We should probably get back." The three cats bounded through the forest, but Sunpaw's mind was anywhere but what he should have been concentrating on: the forest.

His dream. Why had the she-cat come to him, and why did he not run away? Why did she not leave, and why had he purred whenever she had touched him?

Why had he dreamed about her anyways, instead of what he usually dreamed about—either hunting rabbits or finding his family, which was impossible, because Frostbreeze and Blossomkit were both dead. Sure, Blossomkit had a FlameClan look-alike, but her name was Brightpaw, not Blossompaw. And she was a lot more skittish then Blossomkit had ever been.

Sunpaw's thoughts had got the best of him, as he was now wearing a dreamy expression and had glazed eyes—glazed over in thought, not death.

_BONK!_

Sunpaw swung his head from side to side confusedly, trying to figure out why his head hurt so much, when he realized that he had walked into a tree. The other two were glaring at him in annoyance.

"Are you alright?" Emberheart asked with an icy tone. "We should be back in camp by now, and we don't need apprentices slamming into trees all the time!" She whipped her tail from side to side. "And I swear on StarClan's name that I just saw a vole—the first all Newleaf!"

"Now, now," said Snowfeather, calming down her companion. "He's just an apprentice, after all. But Sunpaw—" her gaze turned harsh, "—Day-dreaming instead of concentrating on where you're walking isn't good for an older apprentice." The deputy finished her rant like she was speaking to a naughty kit.

Sunpaw rolled his eyes and nodded. "Okay, I won't daydream. Let's get back to the camp now."  
Emberheart looked at Snowfeather for permission, who nodded, and the group took off.

Sunpaw stopped thinking about his family and his dream, and began to think about his first catch, his mouth watering as he thought about it. It was very rare for MoonClan cats to catch rabbits due to their stockier build. What if the Clan found out that he was part FlameClan? Would they throw him out?

By this time, they'd reached the camp, and everyone had settled with a piece of fresh kill. Sunpaw bounded over to the pile to see that today they had mostly caught mice. He scanned the rest of the pile to find a thrush, which he picked up and padded over to the apprentice's den, where the golden tom began to eat his bird.

Though the flavors of the forest flooded his mouth, he was still unhappy. By the time he had finished his thrush the sun had almost dipped under the horizon.

Suddenly Sunpaw spotted Meadowsong, one of the elders, hobble into the clearing. At first the old she-cat looked fine, but then she began to let out deep, throaty coughs.

The other elder, Nightsky, wandered up to her friend. "Shouldn't you let Shellclaw take a look at that cough, Meadowsong?" she pressed, and the other cat shrugged it off, her tail flicking back and forth slowly.

"Nah, I'd just be wasting herbs," she rasped. "Besides, it's just a cough. End of story." She glared at Nightsky until the other elder backed up, sighing in defeat.

Sunpaw swallowed the remains of his thrush and padded up to the coughing elder, intent on convincing her of the same thing Nightsky had just tried.

"Hey Meadowsong," he mewed. "I think that you should get that cough looked at."

Meadowsong glared at him as if he had offended her, making him shrink back in surprise and at the ferocity of the elder's glare.

"I think not, young one," she snorted. "Besides, I think that I know what's good for my health." Her tabby fur bristled as she stormed off to the elder's den.

"Sorry about that. She's been like this for days now," Nightsky mewed, flicking her tail. "I really hope it's not whitecough," she whispered worriedly.

Sunpaw nodded. "Me neither. It'd be a shame if we lost the two of you."

Nightsky's laugh was rasping but full of light. "Oh, Sunpaw! We're the elders, no cat is going to miss us except for our stories."

"That's not true!" the apprentice protested, but Nightsky silenced him with her tail.

"You remind me of another story, Sunpaw," she purred. "The tale of Moonstar, actually. Would you like to hear it?"

That was one story he hadn't heard yet! Sunpaw nodded yes, looking up at her with big blue eyes as Nightsky cleared her throat and began.

"Many moons ago, there was once a family of lynxes that lived in a cave on top of the highest mountain. Pebble, the mother, was a gentle and kind cat that had two cubs, Phoenix and Moon. But Pebble favored Phoenix over Moon everyday in everything—in food portions, in playing, and even attention. One day, Moon decided to leave because she was six moons old, and she believed that she could handle herself in the world now. As soon as she left, however, Moon discovered that her curious brother, Phoenix, had tagged along.

It took the two half a moon to reach the bottom. Unfortunately for them they were attacked by wolves as soon as they let their guard down. Phoenix shielded Moon and told her to run. Where she ran was where she found what is now our territory, but it was at a horrible cost, because Phoenix was never seen again. But Moon lived on to become the first leader of MoonClan and she became the first leader of MoonClan, Moonstar. Her three legendary kits were named Clawfoot, Badgerstripe, and Snaketooth. Not much else is known after that."

Nightsky sighed. "Well, that's it. It's time for a nap of mine—good night, Sunpaw."

Sunpaw didn't answer, still wrapped up in the story's tale and mystery as the elder padded away into the elder's den. The apprentice went his own way, to the apprentice's den, still thoroughly intrigued by the elder's tale.

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**Did you like to tale of Moonstar? If either yes or no, review and tell us what you think!**


	20. Chapter Nineteen: Brightpaw

**Rain says "hi" again. And Adlet says NOTHING to you. I am soooo evil.**

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The apprentices sat in a circle next to the prey pile; Brightpaw, then Drizzlepaw, and then Foxpaw, and then Eaglepaw completed the loop by sitting in-between his sister and Brightpaw. They were eating prey and swapping stories of their most recent battle victories and hunting accomplishments.

"Did anyone here see the thrush I caught?" Drizzlepaw mewed through a mouthful of mouse. "It was huge! Wolfheart was soooooo impressed!"

"I saw it," Eaglepaw replied, flicking his tail from side to side. "I was on the patrol with you, remember?"

The black-and-white she-cat nodded. "Your mouse was…pretty good," she said teasingly, and Foxpaw shoved her brother playfully.

"You only caught a mouse? I'm surprised at you!"

Everyone stared at the fox-colored she-cat, who blinked in surprise and shook her head. "I mean, what the heck was that? What if some cats are going to have kits soon? How will the queens be fed?"

Brightpaw purred with amusement. "Why, Foxpaw! Do you have a soft side?"

"Who asked you?" Foxpaw snapped, leaning so close to the silver cat that her whiskers brushed Brightpaw's face. "You're nothing but a kit yourself."

Eaglepaw intervened here, and used his tail to push his sister away. "Hey, it's no cat's fault if they're younger or older than us! It's what's inside of them that counts." His amber gaze flitted to Brightpaw and then he looked back at Foxpaw. "Some of them are nicer than others."

Drizzlepaw, who hadn't spoken for a while, suddenly grinned. "Hey, Squirrelpaw! How'd your training go?"

Every cat turned to see the dusty brown tom trotting up to them with a fat rabbit clenched in his jaws. His tail was flicking back and forth happily, and with an air of pride.

"Did you catch that?" Brightpaw almost choked on her words, she was so surprised_. _

_If my squirrel was good, this is amazing! _she told herself, shocked._  
_  
"It wasn't my first catch," Squirrelpaw admitted. "My first catch was a mouse." He shrugged. "Pretty pitiful, I know, but we spent a lot of the time battle practicing."

Squirrelpaw and Duskstorm had spent a long time practicing battle moves and hunting moves so that the apprentice could catch up to his sister and friends. "Have you finally caught up to our level?" Brightpaw asked curiously, and Squirrelpaw grinned.

"That I have, Brightpaw, that I have."

She grinned. "Yay, now you can finally go on regular patrols with us!"

Duskstorm padded up to the group of apprentices and settled down. "Which I believe Berryfrost wishes us to do. I think we have to patrol EarthClan now."

"All of us apprentices?" Eaglepaw asked in surprise.

"Well…" Duskstorm smiled eerily at him, and then his gaze drifted to Foxpaw, and his smile grew even wider. "You'll see…"

At that moment, Darkstar's night-black figure appeared on the Fire-Rock, his tail waving majestically in the air as he gazed down upon the group with his glowing silver eyes. "May all cats old enough to catch their own adders please join here under the Fire Rock for a Clan meeting?"

Duskstorm grinned. "Oops! There must be a meeting. We'll have to do the patrol afterwards." His eyes shimmered mischievously, and Brightpaw looked at him curiously.

_What's he hiding?_

"Today," the dark black tom mewed solemnly, "it's time for a very special occasion." He looked around at the waiting Clan before announcing, "I am going to make Eaglepaw and Foxpaw warriors."

Brightpaw's eyes shone with excitement and surprise. "Congratulations!" she purred to Eaglepaw, kind of ignoring Foxpaw. She still remembered that time long ago when she was a kit, stuck on the roof of the nursery.

Eaglepaw looked frozen with shock. "R-really?"

Foxpaw was leaping around the clearing, her amber eyes shining. "Oh, yes! Finally we can truly defend our Clan against those mangy enemies like true warriors!"

Darkstar silenced them with a single silver glare. "Foxpaw," he said loudly and clearly. "Do you promise to uphold the warrior code and defend FlameClan with your own life?"

"I do!" The she-cat's voice was loud and confident.

"They by the power of StarClan I name you Foxgaze. FlameClan welcomes your undying loyalty and hunger for battle."

As the Clan cheered, Brightpaw murmured in Drizzlepaw's ear, "Maybe she's a little too hungry for battle." The black and white she-cat purred in amusement and agreement.

Foxgaze leaned over and licked her leader's shoulder once, and then turned around triumphantly to stare back at FlameClan, as if challenging the world to mess with her. Echoes of "Foxgaze! Foxgaze!" reverberated around the clearing.

"Eaglepaw," Darkstar's voice was loud and clear as the brown tabby stepped forward, quaking a tiny bit, but not too much as he stared solemnly at his leader. "Do you promise to uphold the warrior code and defend FlameClan with your own life?"

"I—I do."

"Then by the power of StarClan your name shall be Eagletalon. FlameClan will welcome your kind spirit and great skills in hunting."

Eagletalon dipped his head to lick Darkstar's shoulder, and then turned, smiling slightly as he and his sister looked out over FlameClan. When the tom's amber eyes met hers, Brightpaw felt a shudder of…what was that feeling? It was nothing she had ever felt before, but it felt good, like she was being tickled from the inside and out, and then flooded with a warm sensation. It doubled when he smiled her way.

"Foxgaze! Eagletalon! Foxgaze! Eagletalon!" the Clan cheered in earnest as Darkstar leapt his way down from the Fire Rock and began conversation with Whitescar and Berryfrost.

Duskstorm smiled. "See, I'm not the only warrior going on this patrol anymore!" he purred as the two newly-named warriors darted up, their twin amber eyes gleaming with absolute excitement.

"And our vigil is tonight!" Foxgaze gasped. "Just imagine…sitting, guarding the camp with your life…but not being able to talk about it!"

"It's going to be great!" Eagletalon agreed, lashing his tail from side to side.

"You two are so lucky," Squirrelpaw sighed. "I wish I was a warrior." Drizzlepaw and Brightpaw nodded in agreement.

"If you guys are done dilly-dallying, it's time to go on the patrol," Duskstorm interrupted, looking slightly irritated as he flicked his dark grey tail from side to side.

Brightpaw nodded, and the five cats raced after her as she darted out. It's time to go to the EarthClan border!

"Does any other cat think that this scent smells really fresh to you?"

Foxgaze's voice came from a hawthorn bush right next to the EarthClan border. Duskstorm padded over, his eyes gleaming as he leaned down to check.

"Yes, I do," he said, sounding puzzled. "How odd, it's like the cats are still here—"

And that's when all chaos broke loose.

Blood spattered the grass, contrasting red against green as Duskstorm was knocked backwards and onto the ground by a lithe white EarthClan she-cat. Her jaws were bared in a snarl as she placed a paw on his chest.

Foxgaze's eyes widened, and Brightpaw, Drizzlepaw, Squirrelpaw, and Eagletalon all readied in attack positions as six more EarthClan cats stalked out of the bushes. In the lead was a ragged looking golden tom who Brightpaw recognized to be the deputy of EarthClan.

"Lionfur," Duskstorm rasped, still trying to fight off the she-cat. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Simple, murderer," the deputy grinned eerily. "We're getting our revenge for the death of our ally's finest warrior."

Before Brightpaw could ask any more questions, a large black tom leapt at her and bowled her over, landing square on her shoulders. Anxiously she pummeled the tom's hindquarters with her hind paws but it didn't seem to have any effect. Her green eyes widened anxiously as she realized that these cats would kill if they had to.

"Now, EarthClan," Lionfur yowled. "Our time for revenge has come. Attack!"

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**This is very fun to write!**

**But the question is, is it fun to read?**

**Rain says that she made the next chapter oddly dark…one of the reasons it's rated as K plus!**


	21. Chapter Twenty: Sunpaw

**Now, here's one of the few chapters that makes this story K plus. (Almost T)**

**No, not in words or anything. Its just the violence…**

**Rain: Mostly over described bloodshed!**

**Adlet: Yes. There is blood, and **_**lots **_**of it…**

**We'd also like to give a shout-out to Swiftfire (Adlet's sister), Larkfeather:), Bladetail, Sandfrost13, *~Wildflower~*, ~*Songbird*~, Shiningheart, Windsong101, dawn fire, FirefernofThunderClan, Icetail Rox, Thunderfur-nya, Brambletail7890, *FallingStar*, redpool678934, StreamHeart/P/K, GazingHeart, Foxblaze^..^, Rainwhisker358, Silvermoon, Evergreen24, WillowFlight132, Moonfoot13579, Flamestar5!, and Skyheart101! all you guys back at the forum who follow this story are great! We thank you for all of the support!  
**

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Since Meadowsong had started coughing, the apprentices had been training as hard as they could. Waterpaw had perfected a complex move known as the Bone-Breaker, and Sunpaw was currently in the process of learning how to do the difficult attack known as the Trunk Spring. Foxstar himself had said in a happy tone that he was impressed with both of the apprentices' progress. This had to be a good sign!

"We'll be warriors soon!" the ginger-and-white she-cat purred, her paws crossed as she talked to her adopted brother.

Sunpaw nodded in agreement. "There has to be a way to let Foxstar make us be warriors sooner…but how?"

"We fight off MistClan invaders?" Waterpaw suggested, rolling over onto her back and paddling her paws in the air as she thought. Sunpaw shook his head no.

"We have to do something that we can do right now. We can't just want around for MistClan cats to attack—that could happen moons from now, and we still wouldn't be…" he thought for a moment. "Waterfur and Sunpelt!"

"Watermoon and Suntail!" she shot back.

"Waterpelt and Sunleaf!"

The two collapsed laughing, when suddenly Sunpaw leapt up. "I've got it!" he yelled. "We just have to catch a bunch of prey!"

"That's perfect!" Waterpaw agreed, bouncing up and down and squealing in excitement, her white tail flicking back and forth so fast it seemed like it had a mind of its own.

"What do I hear you kits up to now?"

Sunpaw turned in surprise to see the silvery-blue she-cat Ripplebrook laughing and shaking her head at them. "We're not kits!" he protested.

"Kid, all cats are kits to us senior warriors," the she-cat answered, padding up.

"Not to us!" Waterpaw shot back defiantly, but her smile gave her laughter away.

"Anyways, did I hear you say that you wanted to go hunting?" Ripplebrook asked curiously, cocking her pretty head to one side. Sunpaw nodded, his tail flicking.

"Then Dad will be sure to make us warriors!" Waterpaw purred, her eyes lighting up as she mentioned her majestic father.

"That sounds like a plan." The older she-cat leaned down until she was nose-to-nose with the two apprentices. "How about I take you to my favorite spot to hunt? There are so many voles and turtles that it's unbelievable!"

Sunpaw's eyes widened. "You really would?"

"I really would."

"Then yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes YES!" the two apprentices chanted, not in unison.

"Okay!" Ripplebrook stood up and beckoned with her tail. "Then follow me."

The "amazing hunting spot" ended up being the stone pillars. Ripplebrook nodded at a plump brown vole that was darting in and out of the grass, and Sunpaw crouched into a stalking position. He licked his lips in anticipation.  
You're mine! he thought to the vole.

Then Ripplebrook let out a fierce yowl. "Stop!"  
The vole started in surprise and darted away, leaving Sunpaw spitting after it in defiance. He wanted to yell at the she-cat, but thought better of it and instead turned around, sighing in defeat.

"I smell a rival clan!" The she-cat's wavy silver-blue fur stood up on her back as she scented the air, and the apprentices did as well. Waterpaw let out a small squeak of fear.

"EarthClan and FlameClan!" she wailed. "Oh, we have to help EarthClan!" Every cat knew that FlameClan was superior when it came to fighting skills.

"We have to hurry!" Sunpaw yowled. "But we're nowhere near the border, how are we going to get there in time?" He turned to look at Ripplebrook in defeat, but then saw that she was running in a totally different direction.

"What're you doing?" the apprentice yelled after her.

"A warrior named Oakcloud told me where certain tunnels lead to just in case something like this happened!" the warrior replied hastily. A loud screech hit the air and Sunpaw winced.

_I'll just have to go with what she remembers._

"Hang in there, EarthClan!" Waterpaw muttered under her breath as they pounded through the forest.

Tunnels, Sunpaw soon discovered, are dark and dirty and shadowed and just overall awful in every single way. They're hard to climb down, they're hard to climb out of, and they're hard to walk in.

"Riddle me this," Waterpaw muttered through gritted teeth. "How does EarthClan survive down here?"

"It's their special talent," Ripplebrook murmured, seeming not at all uncomfortable with their odd surroundings. "It's what they do better than everything else."

"I'm happy with our ability," Sunpaw remarked as they neared the light. Suddenly a huge spider dropped from the ceiling, and Waterpaw yelped in fear, whimpering as it crawled onto her paws and off again.

"You okay?" Sunpaw asked his 'sister' in concern. She nodded slightly, still making a tiny whimpering noise at the back of her throat.

"Shh!" Ripplebrook quieted them with one fierce yowl. Sunpaw looked ahead to see a faint ray of light shining through the top of the tunnel. His heartbeat quickened.

We're almost there!

Suddenly the senior warrior burst out of the top of the tunnel with Waterpaw and Sunpaw chasing right behind her. Ripplebrook let out a war cry, "MoonClan, attack!" and the three dove into the battle.

From what Sunpaw could tell, it had been a pretty evenly matched fight until they showed up. His gaze whipped around the clearing, looking for some cat to fight or to help. Ripplebrook had occupied Squirrelpaw, and Waterpaw had gone off to StarClan knows where—

SNAP!

Sunpaw's head whipped around to see Waterpaw gazing in surprise at the brown tom he knew as Eaglepaw. The FlameClan cat had curled up into a ball, moaning as he carefully licked the fur on one of his legs, which had been broken—Sunpaw could tell because it was bent back at an awkward angle.

"I did it!" yelped Waterpaw in surprise, her eyes lighting up like the stars in StarClan. The golden tom didn't think they could have gotten any brighter.

"You actually try to do that?" snarled Squirrelpaw as he leapt onto Ripplebrook's back. His eyes connected with Sunpaw's, and for a moment violet clashed with light blue. The FlameClan cat spat in disgust. "You fox-hearted cats."

Sunpaw felt anger flare up inside of him, and he felt his paws pounding towards where Squirrelpaw and Ripplebrook were fighting, so he could give the tom a piece of his mind. No cat speaks like that to my sister!

But Waterpaw wasn't his sister. It was a play-game, a fantasy land that his mind had created to occupy his thoughts, and lure them away from his true family. And right now, he was perfectly happy to go along with that.

Right when Sunpaw was about to leap at Squirrelpaw he heard an EarthClan cat's panicked yowl. "Get out from under her, Rabbitpaw!"

Rabbitpaw?

The golden apprentice wheeled around abruptly to see his friend, the older apprentice Rabbitpaw, being pinned down by a FlameClan cat. Who it was he couldn't tell. All he knew was that he had to help Rabbitpaw.

Sunpaw charged towards them and barreled headfirst into the side of the FlameClan cat. The she-cat let out a screech of surprise and Rabbitpaw gave a quick flick of her tail to let him know that she said thank you, before the EarthClan cat scrabbled away. Then the FlameClan cat looked up at him, and their eyes met. Sunpaw choked on his own breath—something he had never thought possible until this very moment in time.

Drizzlepaw.

Her fur was matted with ruby-red blood, pushed in patches all over her body. Her emerald green eyes looked into his, and instead of clashing, like her brother's had, she looked…sad. Sorrowful, even.

Sunpaw felt his mind working furiously. He couldn't hurt her! But he had to! But he couldn't! But he had to! He had to do something before she got away! Or did he want her to get away?

Suddenly he knew what he had to do. His lips moved, just barely, so that no one could hear the words spoken but Drizzlepaw.

"I'm sorry."

And then he struck with the force of StarClan hidden behind his paw. His claws sliced through warm, tender flesh, and he felt blood—syrupy, dark red blood—dripping off of his claws and staining the grass in front of them. She looked at him with agony, pure agony, in her eye—the other one had been clouded by blood from the scratch he had inflicted across her face—before darting away, letting her tail-tip brush under Sunpaw's chin.

What have I done? he yowled in his mind. She was my friend!

Guilt crept up under his skin and tickled like spiders. But I had to do it for the Clan, he reasoned to himself.

All of a sudden all battle came to a halt. It seemed that Lionfur, with one quick flick of his tail, had ordered the EarthClan cats to stop fighting, but not to retreat. Duskstorm silently made the same movement with his tail, probably so that the FlameClan cats could figure out what was going on. Sunpaw glanced to Ripplebrook, and she nodded, flicking her tail as well. Every cat faced Lionfur, who had paced up to Eaglepaw, curled in a ball with his broken leg.

"Well, well, well." His voice dripped with sickly sweetness. "What do we have here? A lame murderer, no doubt."

Eaglepaw opened his mouth, but he seemed to be in so much pain that he couldn't get any words out. Lionfur smiled and whisked his tail-tip over the tom's mouth. "Don't waste your breath," he snapped harshly. "You'll die in good time."

Duskstorm lunged forward but one of the EarthClan cats stopped him by leaping on his back and clawing down the length of his body. The grey cat let out a shattering yowl as Eaglepaw made desperate efforts to squirm away.

"Say goodnight, you piece of FlameClan dirt," snarled the EarthClan deputy as his claws extended and he leapt towards the brown tabby. Eaglepaw closed his eyes tight, most likely preparing for a death-blow…

But it never came.

What happened next seemed to take place in slow motion, Sunpaw thought. From the right of the leaping deputy came a russet and white streak, amber eyes heated with fury, claws extended, as she leapt in front of her brother. Lionfur's eyes looked surprised for a moment, and then narrowed, as if he was pleased. Instead of aiming his attack at Eaglepaw, he placed his claws on the she-cat's belly, and as she fell to the ground, he ripped.

Blood spurted everywhere—some even onto Sunpaw's golden coat, which he shook off in disgust and horror as the FlameClan she-cat fell to the ground, limply twitching. Her amber eyes stared up at the sky as her paws gave one final twitch.

And then her chest stopped moving.

Eaglepaw let out a moan of horror and dragged himself to her side, seemingly ignoring his broken leg. Sunpaw felt as if the whole world had crumbled down around him. He had seen a death. He was just an apprentice—he wasn't supposed to witness deaths in front of his very eyes!

Lionfur looked pleasantly content, licking Foxpaw—or at least Sunpaw thought her name was—'s blood off of his claws. Suddenly Sunpaw recognized Addertail, the cat he'd given the rabbit to, stand up and let out a horrible yowl.

"ENOUGH! Lionfur, why have you unnecessarily killed this young warrior?"

"So I could quench my thirst for revenge!" snapped back the deputy. "Frostbreeze was killed by these merciless warriors, when she was the cat who saved the life of my apprentice Rabbitpaw! Don't you see? I always owed Frostbreeze, but I never got the chance to say thank-you! Don't you see that Rabbitpaw would be dead if it wasn't for her?"

Suddenly what Lionfur had said clicked in Sunpaw's mind. He killed her…because of my mother? It's my mother's fault that Foxpaw is dead?

"That still doesn't give you the right to kill!" Sunpaw noticed flies starting to hover around the she-cat's dead body, and he squirmed in disgust, turning his eyes to Addertail, who was speaking again. "You are a disgrace to all of EarthClan, and for shame, you're our deputy, of all things! I assure you that I will tell Boulderstar!"

Lionfur doesn't respond for a moment, and then he shrugs his shoulders, looking up at the sky, not even bothering to wash the blood from his pelt. A choked sob from Duskstorm echoes in the background, and Sunpaw saw Brightpaw and Squirrelpaw huddling together in fear. Even Drizzlepaw had crept out of the bushes, shaking all over.

An outburst from Eaglepaw surprised everyone. "WHY?" he hissed, so harshly that Lionfur took a couple steps back, looking shocked. "Why did you kill my sister?"

Sunpaw wondered slightly if Eaglepaw might be going delusional—after all, Lionfur had just told them a couple heartbeats ago.

Lionfur obviously didn't want to answer the question, so he made a few flicks of his tail and darted into the tunnels. None of the EarthClan cats followed him, however, except for Rabbitpaw. All the others looked at Addertail, who nodded, and then it was just FlameClan and MoonClan.

Waterpaw let out a whimper as she looked at Foxpaw's dead body. The cut had been made from her throat all the way down to her stomach, and it was still inking blood every few heartbeats.

"It's pointless fighting for her, Eagletalon," whispered Duskstorm. "I'm sorry, but Foxgaze is gone."

Ripplebrook looked at him and beckoned that they have to go back. Waterpaw nodded and darted away faster than you can say "mouse," but Sunpaw took more time, looking back. He wished he hadn't, though, when his heart broke in two as Eagletalon openly began to sob into his paws.

"The Clans are getting more hostile."

Foxstar's voice echoed in the Moss Cave, arousing murmurs from the gathered MoonClan cats. "But," he continued, "that does not mean that we should be hostile as well. I would like to congratulate Ripplebrook, Waterpaw, and Sunpaw for seeking EarthClan when they were in trouble." His eyes grew cold. "It didn't seem like they needed our help, but it was a brave thing to do."

The Clan murmured in agreement, and Sunpaw looked down at his paws, He had been feeling empty all day, ever since the battle.

"But let us take a moment to mourn FlameClan's warrior, Foxgaze." Foxstar's gaze was grim. "Even though she wasn't our warrior, she protected her brother to the end, even leaping in front of a death blow to help him. This is a very honorable act of bravery, so we shall remember her, and keep her memory alive." His eyes glared out challengingly at the crowd. "We shall remember Foxgaze of FlameClan."

Silence rested among the crowd, and Sunpaw whispered a prayer to StarClan in his mind,

_Thank you for sparing my companions and my life during this horrible battle, StarClan. I'm so sorry that another cat had to join your ranks tonight. Please, let her have the juiciest adder in the fresh-kill pile. She's so brave._

* * *

**Well, while she lasted, did you like Foxgaze or did you hate her? Do you think that Lionfur actually has an excuse to kill others? Did Waterpaw do a good job during the battle? Did…**


	22. Chapter Twenty-One: Brightpaw

**Ima back...**

**If anyone even cares anymores...  
**

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Brightpaw's tail dragged in the mud, clashing with the blood and making an odd rusty-red-brown mixture. She didn't even notice it. All she noticed was that her tail felt as heavy as a million mice. Like her heart.

She wondered vaguely if she really ever truly hated Foxgaze, or just really disliked her. Brightpaw decided upon disliking her. After witnessing a death like that she could never say that she hated her.

Duskstorm was carrying Foxgaze on his back while Squirrelpaw batted away the flies hovering around her body. Drizzlepaw just looked overly depressed. Every few seconds a scarlet drop of blood would drip down from her face wound, but she didn't even seem to notice.

Eagletalon was a different story.

He was leaning against Duskstorm and Foxgaze with pretty much all of his weight, and letting his paws drag. His moans were terrible to Brightpaw's ears. "…Foxgaze?" he would moan quietly. "…Foxgaze? Where is she? Where did she go?"

No one had the heart to answer him.

Rain began to fall, dragging down Brightpaw's fur even more. Foxgaze's beautiful russet fur became brown and stained with mud, dragged down because of the downpour.

The group trudged towards the camp in a shaky row, but a row all the same. Berryfrost was guarding the entrance, her cream and grey fur whipping majestically around as her green eyes stared out challengingly at the patrol. When she realized who they were, however, her eyes got wide and she got to her paws.

"W—what happened?" the deputy asked, pacing the few steps forward to stand in front of the patrol completely.

"EarthClan." Duskstorm's reply was muffled, both because he had Foxgaze on his back and that he was looking down at the ground to avoid getting his face hit by the rain.

Berryfrost curled her tail over Eagletalon's shoulder, whispered something in his ear that Brightpaw couldn't make out, before she whisked away in a cream-and-grey flash up to the Fire Rock. The silver apprentice noticed that in the rain, the Fire Rock looked as if it had burnt out.

Duskstorm laid Foxgaze's body in the center of camp carefully before escorting Eagletalon to Shadowwhisker's medicine cat den. Scared eyes poked out of all of the dens—a shriek of horror could be heard from one of Foxgaze's friends, Flowerbreeze. Drizzlepaw padded over to the Fire Rock and looked up at it, along with Squirrelpaw. Brightpaw guessed that they were anticipating Darkstar coming out for a meeting, and their suspicions were correct.

Darkstar whipped out of his den and his silver gaze landed on Foxgaze's body. Berryfrost padded out from behind him, her head bent in sorrow as Darkstar let out a cry. "Will all cats old enough to catch their own adders please gather here beneath the Fire Rock for a Clan Meeting?"

The cats who had been watching from their dens cautiously crawled out, looking worriedly at Foxgaze's body, before turning to face their leader. Shadowwhisker poked her black head out of the medicine cat den, with Eagletalon's following.

"Cats of FlameClan, you can see what has happened to our border patrol—they were ambushed by EarthClan and MoonClan joined in."

Shrieks of protest arose from the crowd, and Darkstar did nothing to stop it, Brightpaw noticed. He just stood silently, letting their anger boil up inside of them, until it was released in the form of awful yowls.

"We have to raid EarthClan! Look what they've done, those fox-hearts!" snarled Wolfheart, whipping his tail back and forth as he got to his paws. "They've killed one of our warriors for no reason whatsoever!"

"Yes!" Maplestep agreed, getting up as well. "And MoonClan! They joined in, when EarthClan could hold their own! But no, MoonClan just had to be the saviors! And they just had to break our newest warrior's leg! They have almost as much to be ashamed of!"

Cheers were heard from the crowd, but Brightpaw noticed that Drizzlepaw stayed silent, her tail flicking around her paws almost protectively as blood dripped off of the gash covering her right eye.

"But," Darkstar suddenly intervened as loud as he could, making every cat stop talking and look at him in absolute surprise. "We will not attack EarthClan, and risk wasting more warriors. We shall stay strong, and that is why we will make three cats warriors today!"

Brightpaw gasped in surprise and gazed at Squirrelpaw and Drizzlepaw.

_It must be us!_

"Drizzlepaw."

Squirrelpaw gave his sister a shove and she stumbled into the clearing, visibly shaking with fear, and making attempts to wash the blood out of her eye by licking her paw and drawing it over her face. It didn't work.

"Wolfheart," Darkstar said, turning to the scruffy brown tom who was still on his paws. "Do you think she is ready?"

Wolfheart nodded. "I do. She's a good fighter, and can hunt well."

"Then by the power of StarClan, your name is now Drizzlestorm. May your laughter and fierce fighting grant FlameClan a wonderful new warrior." Darkstar whisked his tail over her back, and Drizzlestorm, in absolute awe, leaned forward to lick his shoulder before stepping back.

"Great name!" Brightpaw whispered in her friend's ear, as Squirrelpaw meowed in agreement. Then he stiffened as his name was spoken.

"Squirrelpaw."

The brown tom padded up, his violet eyes twinkling.

"Duskstorm, is he ready?" Darkstar asked the tom leaning next to Foxgaze's body in grief. Duskstorm didn't even reply; he just nodded vaguely.

Squirrelpaw's eyes widened at the next words. "Then by the power of StarClan your name shall now be Squirreltail. May your fairness help us in many problems to come."

Squirreltail modestly licked his leader's shoulder and stepped back. Now only Brightpaw was left. She swallowed nervously.

"Brightpaw."

Darkstar's voice seemed to shake her bones. She stumbled forward, making sure not to trip over her own paws—how embarrassing that would be!—and was aware of all eyes on her.

"Ebonyflight, is she ready?"

"Of course!" Brightpaw's mentor cried, pride lighting up in her bright amber eyes.

"Then by the power of StarClan let your name be Brightfur. FlameClan welcomes your wisdom and hunting skills as a full warrior." Darkstar lowered her head, and Brightfur's tongue rasped over his shoulder. She started to take a step back, but Darkstar's tail whipped around and stopped her.

"Wait," he whispered. "There's something I've never told you. Shadowbird…was my son."

Then he let his tail release, and his gaze became cold again as the Clan began to cheer.  
But Brightfur blocked it all out as thoughts rapidly ran through her head. _Shadowbird's father? That means Darkstar…is my grandfather?_

Then the cheers came through as she realized it.

_I'm a WARRIOR!_

"Brightfur! Squirreltail! Drizzlestorm!"

_We're WARRIORS!_

"Brightfur! Squirreltail! Drizzlestorm!"

And suddenly the rain stopped pouring, turning into a slow drizzle, that slowly arched into a gorgeous rainbow that shone over all of the Clan to see.

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**RAINBOWZ!1!**


	23. Chapter Twenty-Two: Sunpaw

Sunpaw awoke the next morning, basking in the warm rays of the sun. Blinking in the harsh light, he glanced down at his one black paw, and then at his side. It surprised him to see that there were faint brown tabby markings on his usually golden pelt.

I've changed a lot since I was a kit, Sunpaw thought to himself, letting out an amused purr as he pictured a little fluffy golden bundle with wide blue eyes blinking up. Suddenly a picture of the dead warrior Foxgaze appeared in his head, and he shuddered, letting out a tiny snarl. That had undoubtedly been the grossest thing he had ever seen, even more gross then the time Waterpaw shredded a bird and brought it back to camp, expecting praise. She had pretty much gotten the opposite of praise.  
Sunpaw smiled at the memory of Voleclaw shouting at Waterpaw, while she watched helplessly. He couldn't pretend that it hadn't been funny.

Then an entirely different picture arose in his mind.

_"I'm sorry."_

And then he struck with the force of StarClan hidden behind his paw. His claws sliced through warm, tender flesh, and he felt blood—syrupy, dark red blood—dripping off of his claws and staining the grass in front of them. She looked at him with agony, pure agony, in her eye—the other one had been clouded by blood from the scratch he had inflicted across her face—before darting away, letting her tail-tip brush under Sunpaw's chin.

Sunpaw flinched. Why did he have to remember his own experiences so clearly? He could almost feel Drizzlepaw's blood splattering against his paw as she ran away into the bushes, where she huddled until her fellow FlameClan cat died.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to the air, hoping that by some crazy chance she could hear him. "I'm so, so sorry."

"Sorry about what?"

For a minute, Sunpaw thought his prayers had been answered. Drizzlepaw was here! She was going to say that it was all okay and—

"Again, sorry about what? The fact that you didn't use the tuck-and-roll in the battle yesterday? I was counting on you to, you know!"

Sunpaw turned to see Pinecloud flicking his tail, looking partly amused and partly bored. His brown fur was laid back, not puffed up, so the apprentice knew that his mentor wasn't angry.

Sunpaw sighed. "Just talking to myself, I guess." He felt his heart sink lower and lower until it felt like a rock in his stomach.

_What if she never, ever forgives me? _

That would be the worst—not even conversing with her at Gatherings!

"Um…okay. And anyways, I was going to give you an assessment today," the brown tom mewed. Sunpaw felt his ears fly up in surprise. An assessment? What in StarClan's name is that?

"Sure!" he meowed, not knowing what he just agreed to.

"Come outside, then," replied Pinecloud, beckoning out his apprentice with his tail. A mischievous grin flashed onto his face.

"It's time that both you and Waterpaw became warriors."

*

The objective: catch as much prey as possible.

The partner who happens to be following the same objective: Waterpaw.

The result: becoming a full-fledged warrior!

Sunpaw grinned as he flexed his claws in and out of the dirt. Waterpaw shook in excitement beside him, giving a little squeak as a butterfly drifted past her nose. The task had made them both overly-excited and jumpy.

"Okay, apprentices, you know what you have to do?" Voleclaw asked, stalking out and sitting in front of them. Sunpaw and Waterpaw nodded.

"Remember that Voleclaw and I will be hiding in the shadows, watching everything you do, so try not to mess up!" mewed Pinecloud playfully. Waterpaw visibly shuddered, so Sunpaw murmured in her ear that he was only joking.

When they looked up, both of their mentors were gone.

This was their signal to begin.

"Let's start out with a prey-scent—can you smell anything?" asked Sunpaw after a moment of tasting the air himself.

"Squirrel, turtle, adder—how did one of those get on our territory?—and…oh! Rabbit!" Waterpaw replied, bouncing up and down on the toes of her paw.

"Let's go for that rabbit!" Sunpaw agreed, his fur bristling in anticipation as he thought of the white rabbit running as fast as it could from Waterpaw, only to land straight in his claws…he would bite it's neck, and their mentors would be so impressed that they'd become the most amazing warriors ever!

…not likely. But an apprentice could dream, couldn't he?

Sunpaw realized that in his daydream, Waterpaw had wandered off, and came back with a mouse hanging limply from her mouth. She spat it out on the ground, burying it quickly. "This was looking straight at me, I swear to StarClan! And it didn't run!"

Sunpaw laughed out loud. "Well, it's not fair if you have you own catch and I don't! Go search for the rabbit, and I'll catch up with you and a couple heartbeats."

Waterpaw curtly nodded and darted off in the other direction, where the scent of the rabbit was strongest.

The golden tom crept through the bushes, sniffing the air. Suddenly he almost tripped over a rock jutting out of the ground—at second glance, it wasn't a rock, but a turtle!

The turtle was trying to chase after a half-eaten berry that was rolling away. As far as Sunpaw could tell, the berry was faster than the anxious turtle, who wanted its meal back. He let out a snort of amusement and continued to watch the funny scene before finally sticking his paw into the turtle's shell and killing it in a single blow.

Sunpaw placed the turtle down next to the spot where Waterpaw had buried her mouse, not burying his catch because MoonClan was the only creature in the forest that ate turtles. Then his ears pricked as he heard pawsteps pounding his way. A heartbeat later he caught sight of a snow-white rabbit leaping over logs and bouncing through the forest, with a ginger-and-white steak hot on its tail.

"Come on!" he heard Waterpaw yowl from far away. "We can't lose this one!"

Sunpaw's eyes lit up with this new challenge and felt his paws take over as he sprinted after his friend and the rabbit, soon to be fresh-kill.

The rabbit, far ahead of him and Waterpaw, finally found a burrow and dove in headfirst, leaving a fluffy white tail poking out for a second before diving fully in.

"Foxdung!" Waterpaw snarled, coming to a full halt now. Sunpaw stopped running and padded up next to her, and then flinched in surprise as she hissed, "I'm going in."

"No, wait!" Sunpaw yowled as she dived into the burrow. "You have no idea what could be down there! There could be badgers, or foxes or…"

He listened for the sound of small apprentice paws padding back up, but none came. He thought of all of the stories he had heard from the elders about cats going underground and never coming back up. Sunpaw felt his throat choke up.

"NO!"

"What is it?" asked a familiar voice. "I just totally caught it!"

Waterpaw's familiar face poked out of the hole, her eyes twinkling, dragging the dead rabbit behind her. Before Sunpaw could even cry out with relief, she mewed, "A mouse, a turtle, and a rabbit just isn't gonna cut it! Let's go catch some prey!"

*

"May all cats old enough to break rocks and stones join me in the Moss Cave for a Clan meeting!"

Ripplebrook looked up from her fat thrush, which scented of Waterpaw. Emberheart and Mousethroat were sharing a turtle, the top stained with berry juice from a never-quite-finished meal. Almost every piece of prey that the Clan had smelled of either Sunpaw or his adopted sister.

"This is where we ascend to becoming full grown," whimpered Waterpaw in Sunpaw's ear.

"It'll be fine," he replied confidently, placing his tail around her shoulder. She loosened up a little bit at that.

"Waterpaw and Sunpaw, step forward!" roared Foxstar, sounding like a LionClan warrior. The two apprentices made their way into the cave and looked up at the cat who they had called their father for so long, although Sunpaw knew that he could never do that again.

"Waterpaw, do you promise to uphold the ways of our noble code?"

"I—I do." Sunpaw could hear the nervousness shaking in her voice.

"Then by the powers of StarClan and all before them, I command you to be Waterfrost, in honor of your jay-blue eyes." Foxstar pressed his nose to hers and she respectively licked her father's shoulder before stepping back, shaking slightly.

"Sunpaw, you have been brave and loyal since Frostbreeze's death, unlike any kit I've ever seen. Your mother's blood courses through your veins, and I believe that it is time that you become a warrior. Do you agree?"

"I do," Sunpaw replied, feeling bowled over by all of the praise.

"Then by the power of StarClan I name you Sunflight, after Frostbreeze's mother Skyheart, who used to enjoy watching the sun soar into the sky each morning." Foxstar advanced towards him and pressed his nose against Sunflight's. Sunflight swore he saw a glint of, what was it, remorse? The new warrior shrugged it off and advanced to Waterfrost's side.

"Sunflight! Waterfrost! Sunflight! Waterfrost!" roared the Clan. Sunflight's gaze swept the Clan. He saw Waterfrost soaking in all of the praise like grass absorbs water…Mosspool's eyes glowing with pride, and Pinecloud and Voleclaw smiling at them.

But where were Shellclaw and Raindapple?

Suddenly the two medicine cats appeared in the front of the cave. Raindapple was breathless as she panted, "Cloverstep had three kits—three toms, if you could believe it! Their names are Spiderkit, Sandkit, and Talonkit!"

Sunflight cheered in excitement, and Waterfrost purred beside him. This was the best day in his eleven moons of life.


	24. Chapter Twenty-Three: Brightfur

**New chapter- and the cover will be added shortly!**

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It was during their silent vigil when it happened, the one event that would change all three of the new young warrior's lives forever.

All was deathly quiet. The night was peaceful, and the stars twinkled in Silverpelt, completely content. No clouds, not even tiny wisps, hovered. It seemed to Brightfur that all was perfect, and she noted that the fox that had mauled Squirreltail didn't seem to be anywhere in scent or sight.

Squirreltail himself was twitching with excitement, bounding about the clearing on silent paws, his violet eyes wide as he inspected his beloved camp at night. Brightfur marveled at how the beautiful fire contrasted the dark night sky, fire against shadow clashing perfectly.

The silver warrior wished that she could converse with her friends and talk of the night's beauty, and all of the wonderful things they would do as real, live warriors, when she noticed how Drizzlestorm was acting.

The long-furred she-cat was pacing, back and forth, back and forth. Drizzlestorm's green eyes twitched around the camp, and she flinched at every little sound or movement. She looked up at the sky, and reached up with one paw, quickly drawing it over a scar on her right eye. Brightfur had noticed the wound yesterday but hadn't bothered to ask what cat had dealt the blow. Now she wondered why it was making her friend look so distressed.

Just as the silver warrior was going to signal her confusion to Drizzlestorm, the black-and-white cat stood up slowly, like a kit learning how to walk, looked back at her brother and adopted sister, bowed her head in…regret?...and stalked over to the entrance of the camp.

Squirreltail turned and stared at his sister in surprise, as did Brightfur. They both watched, as if in slow motion, as Drizzlestorm turned…

…and ran out of the entrance as fast as her lithe paws could take her.

Squirreltail couldn't seem to help himself—he let out a horrified squeak and chased after her, Brightfur hot on his heels. As they passed through the entrance fire, the two warriors spotted Drizzlestorm crashing through the forest as fast as a rabbit in Greenleaf. Brightfur made a tail signal to Squirreltail to chase her, and they darted forward.

It seemed like they were running for a million sunrises, crashing through the undergrowth and leaping over bushes and stray tree roots. Brightfur almost let out an indignant yowl of "we'll starve for a moon, mousebrain!" but managed to keep her jaws clenched tight.

The young warrior wondered if it was okay for a cat to talk during their silent vigil if their best friend and adopted sister was running away in the middle of the night to StarClan knows where. One thought of Darkstar's cold, silver eyes, however, made up her mind. Even if he was her grandfather, he was still scary to Brightfur.

Drizzlestorm suddenly made a sharp curve and went out of sight. Brightfur stopped, one paw raised, silhouetted in the moonlight, trying to pick up the missing scent, when she noticed Squirreltail limping slightly on his mauled leg.

_Oh no!_ she thought in despair. _The old wound must have been wrenched again by all of this running!_

Quickly, before she could let Drizzlestorm get away, Brightfur darted over to Squirreltail and placed her paw over his, letting her tail sweep around his shoulder. She gazed into his violet eyes, which looked so troubled. Stay here and rest, she thought, hoping that her expressions echoed her thoughts.

Apparently they did. Squirreltail nodded and curled up in a ball, licking his previously injured leg, as Brightfur gave him a quick lick and darted away.

The scent of Drizzlestorm wasn't hard to follow, especially since Brightfur could track her trail by looking for the devastation that her friend had made in her mad rush to get away. Finally the silver she cat spotted her.

When Brightfur saw what Drizzlestorm was about to do, she almost choked.

Her black and white fur seeming to glow in the moonlight as it flared out in the breeze, the she-cat turned to stare at Brightfur, her green eyes challenging her to take one step forward, or to yowl at her even though it was their silent vigil. It was like Drizzlestorm was teasing her…but why would she go so far as to do this, as to…

Brightfur's eyes widened in surprise and shock as the black-and-white cat took one paw and placed it over the MoonClan border.

Drizzlestorm was not a trespasser, this Brightfur knew well enough, having lived with her all eleven moons of their lives. Well, minus the three moons they had spent apart, but those memories were painful for the silver warrior. So why was she now strolling over the enemy's scent markers like it was as easy as catching a blind baby mouse?

Brightfur took one step closer, and Drizzlestorm took one back. Another paw crossed the line, and the silver cat wanted to scream. What are you doing, in the name of StarClan's starry pelts?

One paw was left inside of the fiery border, and as Drizzlestorm raised it, she gave Brightfur such a horrible look of regret in those pine green eyes the Brightfur felt that her heart was shattering into a million pieces.

That was it.

Brightfur sprang forward and tackled Drizzlestorm back into the FlameClan border line. Her friend let out a shocked meow and tumbled head over tail with Brightfur clenching on for dear life. The black and white cat rolled over and kicked her opponent off. The silver warrior yelped as she skidded backwards and hit a tree. Instantly she felt woozy.

StarClan, is this how it's going to end? I'll be killed by one of my best friends?

Three heartbeats later she gasped. Drizzlestorm had broken the code.

She talked.

"Brightfur, leave me be! I know what I want to do, and I know what I have to do! It's the only way to truly make me happy!" Drizzlestorm yowled, her fur seemingly glowing in the moonlight as her eyes stared challengingly at her opponent. "And I'll be talking later tonight anyways, so don't flip out on me!" Her eyes softened for a second. "Don't believe that I won't miss you, and Squirreltail too, because I will, with all of my heart. But a piece of it belongs with another. In MoonClan."

The black-and-white she-cat stared directly into Brightfur's eyes. Light green met pine green as the two stared each other down. Brightfur couldn't believe what she was hearing. Drizzlestorm…is leaving? Forever?

"Goodbye, my sister," the young warrior whispered, her black and white tail whipping in the wind, before she stepped fully onto the MoonClan border, her green eyes flashing through the fire. The last thing Brightfur was able to scent was a whiff of fiery FlameClan smell, but with a slight sweeter side to it too—and then it was gone.

* * *

**You likey?**


	25. Chapter Twenty-Four: Sunflight

**If anyone was wondering: no, this story is not even _close _to the ending. :)**

**And no matter what, there will _always _be updates. This project will _not _be cut short.  
**

**Just not what you'd call "regular" updates  
**

* * *

Night had fallen, cloaking the entire sky in a vast, dark veil. Sunflight and Waterfrost's job was to keep silent and guard the camp until dawn. It seemed like it'd be super easy to the golden tom, but it turned out to be more complicated than he ever could have imagined.

It started out simple enough. Waterfrost was eating a squirrel from the fresh-kill pile, her sky blue eyes sweeping the area for danger, and Sunflight was stalking in a circle around the perimeter of the camp, his tail flicking as he scented for anything unusual.

And he did.

The fresh smell of burnt trees was lingering next to the warriors' den, where Sunflight knew that there was a small hole in the camp barrier. His golden fur raised as he arched his back and let out a soft hiss. Was FlameClan attacking them?

Then he realized that there was only one cat there—one with piercing pine green eyes and a beautiful purr. She emerged from the shadows quietly, looking as if she had been bathed in moonlight, and when she turned to face him, Sunflight felt himself purr.

"Drizzlepaw!" he whispered, bounding up to meet her.

"Drizzlestorm now," she replied, pressing herself against him.

The next thing he noticed was that her right eye was horribly scarred, with a deep scratch that didn't look like it would heal anytime soon. Sunflight instinctively glanced down at his own claws, feeling as if they were still covered in blood…her blood…the blood that had come out of that scar.

"I'm so sorry," he sighed, letting his tail skim her cheek. She giggled and pushed it away.

"What's in the past is in the past," Drizzlestorm replied, her green eyes full of amusement. Sunflight only had heartbeats to wonder what that meant before she whispered, "I've come to join MoonCla—"

And a rock-hard ginger-and-white paw came out of nowhere and smacked Drizzlestorm on the back of the head. The black-and-white cat fell to the ground with a startled yelp as Waterfrost emerged, her eyes flaring with anger as she glared at Sunflight. The tom knew his adopted sister well enough to tell what she was trying to say to him.

Silent vigil!

Sunflight stood up, about to meow a protest, when Waterfrost leapt onto the still-knocked over Drizzlestorm and bowled her over and over. The FlameClan cat let out a loud scream as her attacker started clawing at any part of her body that they could find.

"Stop!" yowled Sunflight, darting around and trying to find an opening where he could drag Waterfrost off. "Stop fighting!" He was aware that he was breaking the warrior code by talking, but at the moment he didn't care.  
Blood went flying past and landed on the ground right next to Sunflight. He saw the same red hue on Waterfrost's claws as she hacked away, her jay-blue eyes that had inspired her beautiful name now lit with anger. He yelped as she made a wild swipe at him, glanced up to see the sun peeking over the horizon, and knew that she could talk.

"Sunflight! What do you think you're doing, letting a FlameClan cat sneak into our camp and not telling Dad? You go and converse with her, for StarClan's sake!" Waterfrost looked so angry that she was shaking from head to tail-tip. "You…you must not be the cat you once were…the cat I thought you were."

For some odd reason, Sunflight felt like his heart had just died. "N-no, Waterfrost, it's not like that! We're good friends, that's all."

Waterfrost eyed him suspiciously. "Good friends," she drawled out sarcastically.

Sunflight felt his pelt get hot. "Yes!" he said, aware of his voice getting higher-pitched with each syllable. "Good…friends!"

Drizzlestorm let out a small whimper from under Waterfrost's paws; with a contemptuous glare, the MoonClan cat stepped off. "I'll let you go this time," she hissed, "but only because you're my brother's friend."

The FlameClan cat scampered to her paws, hastily backing away from the ginger-and-white warrior, small whimpers escaping her mouth. Waterfrost rolled her eyes and turned to face Sunflight. "Might I ask why in StarClan's name she's here?"

Before Sunflight could reply, the familiar mew of Pebblefall interrupted both of them.

"Invader!"

The brown tabby leapt out of the warriors' den and barreled Drizzlestorm over; this time she was prepared, however, and quick as a flash of lightning she performed a backflip and landed about a fox-length away from where Pebblefall was. "Thank you, Brightfur," she mumbled under her breath, a smirk appearing on her face.

The expression disappeared a moment later, however, when Pebblefall darted after her again. "Wait!" Sunflight yowled, scampering in between the two. "This she-cat wishes to join MoonClan."

"FlameClan wanting to come here? That's a new one," the brown tabby snarled, but he sat down and lazily began grooming his chest fur. "Take her to Foxstar. He'll know what to do."

"I…I don't believe that's necessary," Sunflight stammered, stepping protectively in front of Drizzlestorm.

"Sunflight," she hissed. "I can take care of myself." But he ignored her as Waterfrost now spoke, her long tail lashing back and forth and her eyes narrowed.

"Yes, it is necessary! What if she's just pretending to be your friend? What if she's actually a spy from that horrible fiery Clan?"

Pebblefall looked up, and Sunflight, with a sense of dread, could tell that he was starting to believe Waterfrost's words. "And why do you wish to protect her so badly? Are you a spy as well?"

Sunflight's eyes widened and he rapidly began to shake his head. "N-no! Why would you ever say that? I'm a true, loyal MoonClan warrior!"

"Liar."

Waterfrost leapt and landed on top of Sunflight, her eyes glaring. "You were like my brother…more than my brother, even. And now…now…" She looked up at the sky, and then leaned so close, her nose was literally an ant-length away, "…I might have to do it. I could make you unable to move from the neck down…"

"WATERFROST!"

Sunflight's head was spinning from all that she had just admitted to him, but he quickly forgot it as soon as he saw Foxstar scampering towards them, his yellow eyes as thundery as storm clouds. "GET IN MY DEN RIGHT NOW," he roared. "I cannot…CANNOT believe what I just saw…"

Waterfrost leapt off of him, her fur bristling with anger as she stalked into her father's den. Drizzlestorm let out a faint whimper. "He's scary."

Sunflight let out a faint argument in his mind;_ Well, so is Darkstar._

"Waterfrost, my own daughter, I have never seen a cat in my ENTIRE leadership attack one of his or her own Clanmates, and for it to be you…" Foxstar let out a low growl that seemed to shake the earth. "We need to talk."

"Wait!"

I am such a mousebrain, Sunflight thought inwardly, as all the cats watching the commotion turned to look at him. He heard Drizzlestorm retreating into the shadows, letting out small whines of fear. His heart thumped as they all glared at him.

"Well?" said Foxstar, as Waterfrost narrowed her eyes and lashed her tail. Sunflight gulped.

"What do you have to say?"

* * *

**Ok, since I pointed out the fans of _Lost in the Wind _from the Warriorcats Forum (as of Chapter 20)...**

**I'll now give some new shout-outs to some people here at !**

**Thank you, CLOUDSPOT99, SwiftStar1, and Runningfur for reviewing this story!  
****You're support is really helpful, and Rain and I both hope that you stay loyal to this project as well as to continue enjoying it.  
You guys are awesome and don't let people tell you otherwise. :)  
**

**It's been fun to write- but its also fantastic to _actually get feedback_ from you guys!  
**

**Please, if you have _anything _to say at all- say it! You can be a meanie and flame us, fair enough. But really _any _review that isn't spam (that means you too, Larkfeather:) and Rainpath117) is very well appreciated!  
**

**Always welcoming anonymous reviews,  
**

**-Rainpath117 and Adlet  
**


	26. Chapter Twenty-Five: Brightfur

**Chapter 25 time! :)**

**Thanks, Rain for getting these to be completed nice and quick!  
**

* * *

The sun peeped over the horizon, with the silver warrior gazing at it wistfully with pine green eyes. Her tail flicked back and forth…back and forth…back and forth. Brightfur's mind raced and shouted with annoyance.  
_Rise, sun!_ I screamed. _Rise so that I can tell Darkstar Drizzlestorm is gone!_

Then the first ray of sunlight hit her back and her bright green eyes lit up. Squirreltail also got to his paws, and for a second, both of them were staring at that one single ray of sunshine.

Brightfur let out a loud yowl. "Darkstar!"

Squirreltail joined in too. "Darkstar, Darkstar! Quickly, Darkstar!"

Both of them stared at the Fire Rock, awaiting the shadowy figure of their leader. Squirreltail began to pace back and forth in annoyance, while Brightfur didn't keep her eyes off of Darkstar's den. Come on, she silently pleaded in her mind. Come on!

Finally, finally, he poked his head out of the den, silver eyes glistening with absolute annoyance.

"What is it? Is the sun even up yet?"

"Drizzlestorm!" Squirreltail wailed. "She's gone, gone, gone!" His tail lashed back and forth as he limped slightly up to the Fire Rock to look up at his leader.

"To _MoonClan_," Brightfur replied angrily, digging her claws into the dirt as her tail lashed back and forth.

Darkstar's eyes widened, and he retreated into his den, only to come sprinting out and performing an astonishing front flip off of the Fire Rock before landing neatly in front of the young warriors. "What?!"

At times before this one, Brightfur might have laughed and joked with Drizzlestorm that their leader was a show-off, but not now. There was no Drizzlestorm here to joke with. There was just Squirreltail, who was looking more stressed then she had ever seen him before. Ever.

"So, you're saying that Drizzlestorm abandoned us for MoonClan, of all Clans?" Darkstar proclaimed, lashing his tail as he stalked in front of the new warriors.

Both Squirreltail and Brightfur nodded as one.

"Then why in the Dark Forest did you mousebrains not get me?" their leader roared, his back fur bristling as he glared with angry silver eyes. Squirreltail flinched backwards, but Brightfur stared her leader—and grandfather—directly in his eyes. Pine green clashed on silver as the young she-cat replied matter-of-factly, a smirk on her face.

"_Silent_vigil, remember?"

Darkstar hissed in annoyance and dug his claws deep into the dirt, but surprisingly didn't say anything more, just leapt back atop the Fire Rock and let out such a loud yowl, Brightfur thought it could have woken up the cats from EarthClan.

"Will all cats old enough to catch their own adders join here at the Fire Rock for a Clan Meeting?"

Slowly all of the cats of FlameClan began to trudge out of their dens, yawning and whispering with each other, wondering why there was a meeting this early. Eagletalon even padded out of the medicine cat den, looking curiously up at the leader.

Brightfur spotted Gingermoon gazing around, looking for her kits. The silver she-cat felt a stab of pain deep inside when she knew her foster mother's amber gaze wouldn't rest on Drizzlestorm.

"Cats of FlameClan," meowed the dark leader gravely. "For unknown reasons, Drizzlestorm has left our Clan and has run away to MoonClan."

Shocked mews echoed throughout the clearing, but Gingermoon's was the loudest of them all. "That's impossible—not my little kit! Not my Drizzy!" The ginger and silver she-cat wailed loudly and collapsed, making Brightfur feel sick. She could hardly get out the next words.

"S-she has." It was with a tremendous effort that the silver warrior said this without wailing herself. "I saw her."

The cats of FlameClan began to murmur even louder, and the ginger and white cat Flowerbreeze wailed, "What shall we do?" Her mother, Maplestep, curled her tail over her daughter's shoulder and glared out at the crowd as if they had caused her daughter's distress.

"We have to fight MoonClan for them," Whitescar meowed grimly.

"NO!"

Every cat stopped and looked up at Darkstar, who was hissing angrily as he paced back and forth. "We will not fight. In less than a quarter moon, there will be a Gathering." The leader looked at Shadowwhisker for confirmation, and the black medicine cat nodded her head.

Darkstar continued, "Drizzlestorm will show her face at that Gathering. Trust me, I know that she will. I've lead more cats than I can count—and I know young cats like her."

Someone in the crowd muttered something—on second glance, Brightfur noticed it was Fangscar, the only elder at the time. The white tom rolled his eyes and whispered something to Whitescar that sounded like "Icewhisker."

"Meeting dismissed," Darkstar yowled, and with one whisk of a night black tail, he disappeared back into his den. In a few short leaps, Berryfrost followed him, her grey-and-cream fur glistening in the dawn.

As the rest of the cats began to perform their morning duties, Brightfur found herself talking with Squirreltail and Ebonyflight, both of whom looked incredibly distressed.

"Oh, oh!" the brown tom wailed miserably. "I don't think I can wait 'till the Gathering!"

"You have to," Ebonyflight replied, but she was obviously panicked herself. "Look, I don't like this anymore than you do, but isn't the Clan leader's word law? That is part of the code, after all."

Squirreltail groaned, and Brightfur nodded, running her tail along his dusty brown flank. The tom sighed. "B-but I miss her so much already! I've never been apart—it's like we're twins! Except we don't look anything alike—but still!" His violet eyes were so mournful that Brightfur felt her heart rip into two.

"Maybe you should get some rest," Ebonyflight suggested, and without protest, Squirreltail padded into the warrior's den and disappeared from sight.

The silver she-cat's former mentor turned to look at her next. "Aren't you tired too?"

"I…I guess I am," Brightfur admitted, feeling a yawn creep past her jaws as she stretched. Right now a bed of warm, fresh moss sounded really good.

"Then go sleep," Ebonyflight whispered affectionately, butting Brightfur in the right direction. The silver she-cat stumbled into her new den and looked around through half-closed pine green eyes.

Three fresh nests had been prepared. One of them was occupied by a softly snoring brown hump that was Squirreltail. Two more nests were prepared next to his—one was completely empty, but another had a beautiful golden flower on the top and had a faint scent lingering on it. Was that…Eagletalon?

Brightfur padded over to the nest with the flower on it and huddled down, glancing over at the empty nest—no sweet, smoky scent, no piece of black-and-white fur tangled among the moss. There was only nothing.

And nothing it would stay.

* * *

**Dun dun dunnnn**


	27. Chapter Twenty-Six: Sunflight

**WOW.  
**

**This was way way WAY late, sorry to say it guys, but this one's been done for about a week. Sorry!  
**

**I guess old Adlet's been absent minded because MLP: FiM season 3 comes out in just one more week.  
(If you didn't know already; I'm a diehard Pegasister)  
**

**Without further ado- Chapter 26!~  
**

* * *

"Well?" Foxstar growled low. "What do you have to say?" His gaze was locked on Sunflight, and the golden warrior noticed with a start something he had never seen in his foster father's eyes before.

Rage.

"I-it's my fault. The reason for Waterfrost's outburst is because of her." Sunflight pointed his tail at Drizzlestorm, who blinked up at the leader with huge green eyes, like tiny pools of emeralds. "And…she's here because of me."

Foxstar's expression changed ever so slightly from a raging cat to a confused cat. Waterfrost rolled her eyes and turned away, hissing.  
Sunflight looked at Drizzlestorm, who looked like she was about to start floating with joy. Her tail flicked back and forth excitedly as her eyes glinted as bright as the sun.

"She wants to join MoonClan, Foxstar. Are you okay with that?"

The ginger leader stepped backward in surprise. "Join us?" He sounded genuinely confused and surprised, but quickly recovered. "I-I mean, why? Wouldn't the turtles make her sick, and it's too late for her to train at the Rock Pillars—you're supposed to do that on your second or third outing as an apprentice." Foxstar sighed and looked directly into Sunflight's bright blue eyes, alight with hope, and then at Drizzlestorm, who was cowered next to Sunflight. Finally the leader nodded in understanding. "I guess—"

"Father!"

Waterfrost burst forward in a blur of white and ginger, her sky blue eyes ablaze with fury. "What if this cat is a spy? How can we trust her—?"

The young warrior was cut off by Foxstar whipping his tail across her jaws. "Waterfrost," he snapped. "This is my Clan, not yours. I make the decisions, not you. So let me rule my Clan, and one day maybe you'll rule MoonClan too. Then, and only then will you make the decisions for this Clan."

Waterfrost sighed in defeat and stepped backward, bowing her head. She had lost, and she knew it.

Sunflight's heart ached. He hadn't meant to hurt Waterfrost! Oh, StarClan, this was complicated.

"Will all cats old enough to break rocks and stones join me in the Moss Cave for a Clan meeting?" Foxstar's voice rang out as all the cats of MoonClan appeared out of their dens, looking tired and grumpy as they filed into the cave. Waterfrost swept in, giving Sunflight a contemptuous look as she did.

Drizzlestorm and Sunflight headed in last. The she-cat still looked like she could float on air. "I'm sooooo happy!" she purred in his ear, but her smile didn't stay as soon as she walked into the Moss Cave and all cats laid eyes on her.

"Adder-breath!" someone yowled in the crowd, but they were hidden, so Sunflight couldn't see who.

"Why is there a murderer here?" snapped another cat.

"We have a newcomer who wishes to join MoonClan!" Foxstar yowled, and the whole Clan burst into suspicious mutters. The usual grotesque echoing off of the moss-sodden walls bounced around, making the rumors expand by a million. Sunflight had to restrain himself from covering his ears to block out the horrible noise.

"Why does she wish to join?" Voleclaw spat, his fur bristling as his tail lashed.

"Why come from the Clan that's loyal and true to the killing shell warriors of MoonClan?" Mousethroat snapped, his usually calm temper now in full rage. Drizzlestorm's eyes narrowed and her back fur stuck on end.

"Why even bother joining the Clan of fox hearts?" Ripplebrook hissed, quoting Squirrelpaw from the most recent battle.

"SILENCE!"

Every cat stopped talking. Foxstar stood majestically, looking like a lion as he glared down at his Clan. "She is joining on one of our own warrior's request!" he continued.

"Who?" Emberheart looked as if she couldn't believe it. Foxstar, thankfully, didn't answer. Sunflight let out silent thanks to his foster father.

"Meeting is dismissed." The ginger leader bounced away down the ledge and curved around into the camp. Sunflight wrapped his tail around Drizzlestorm's shoulders, and soon noticed that her neck was still bleeding from Waterfrost's assault.

"Let's go have Shellclaw look at that," he suggested. She nodded, her eyes wide as she gaped around the Moss Cave.

Sunflight sighed. This was going to be harder than he thought.

"Wake up, Sunflight."

A paw prodded into the warrior's dreams—a ginger paw, with a stern voice behind it. "I need to talk to you."

The golden tom yawned, revealing his sharp teeth, and stretched out, noticing Waterfrost in the nest on one side of him and Drizzlestorm on the other. The black and white she-cat was shivering—probably because of the lack of warm fires on all sides of her.

Sunflight turned to see that Foxstar was staring angrily at him. "Come outside," was all the leader said, before turning and stalking away. Slightly worried, Sunflight followed.

They sat in the middle of the clearing—it was late at night, and no other cats were awake, except for Mousethroat, who was on night patrol and most likely wasn't listening to their conversation anyways. The stars of Silverpelt twinkled above them as the leader began to speak.

"Did I make the right decision?" Foxstar started, his gaze fixed on Sunflight's one black paw.

"…what decision?"

"I know that your father was Shadowbird," the leader whispered, his eyes narrowed into tiny slits, like little chips of gold. "Frostbreeze was as close to me as my own sister…not that I had one except for her…but I made it my business to know who her mate was…" His eyes skirted to the sky. "Does this make you disloyal?"

"No! Of course not! I'm a loyal warrior of Moon—" Sunflight was cut off by Foxstar yelling at him, his tail lashing back and forth.

"How did you get to know Drizzlestorm, the newcomer? Don't say 'at Gatherings' because you've only been to one, and I've heard that excuse before!"

Sunflight was startled by his leader's sudden change in personality. Maybe this was where Waterfrost got her temper from.

Suddenly a thought ran through his head. "I've heard the excuse before!" Foxstar had said. Was he…referring to Frostbreeze and her relationship with Shadowbird?

The second thought that he had was: punishing me because I'm half-clan? Where's the kind-hearted cat I knew as a kit?

"I…I…" Sunflight mewed, his head still foggy because of the unexpected attack.

"Have you been meeting her at the FlameClan border? Are you a traitor? You are a disgrace to Moonstar herself! Sunflight, I never believed I'd have to do this, but…" The leader's eyes were burning with fury, but also glimmering with grief. "I banish you fro—"

"FOXSTAR!"

The new cat was not Drizzlestorm, like Sunflight was expecting. He whipped around, eyes searching in the clearing, and was surprised to see Mousethroat staring at his leader, eyes wide.

"Before you exile him, think! You are technically Sunflight's father! Do you think that any warrior as new as him should be exiled, even if he could be a traitor? Give him a chance to prove himself. Maybe he will be more powerful than any other cat here." Mousethroat's eyes were blazing with fury. "If you don't give him the benefit of the doubt, then you are not fulfilling your role as fair leader of MoonClan."

Foxstar sighed and looked down.

"I…I…thank you, Mousethroat. I don't know what came over me." He laid his tail down on his foster son's back, but Sunflight flinched away, still nervous from the unexpected outburst, and turned tail, darting back into the den where Waterfrost and Drizzlestorm, along with all of the other warriors, were still sleeping soundly.

He allowed one glance back to see Mousethroat smile in his direction, and to see Foxstar look down at his paws, stand up, and slowly pad away towards his den. For a heartbeat Sunflight wondered if the kind leader he had once known was still there, or if the old Foxstar had been swept away by all of this half-Clan and Drizzlestorm confusion. And if Waterfrost was still mad at him…

Did that mean he and Drizzlestorm were on their own?

* * *

**So das it. **

**(For Chapter 26 anyways)**

**Now I'm just going to say if you are going to pull a "Sweet Brown" on me by saying "Ain't nobody got time for that!" whenever I ask for a simple review, you are not 20% as cool as I thought you were.  
**

**I am dissapoint with those who "can't find the time" to type up a mere half sentence on the reviews page.  
**


	28. Chapter Twenty-Seven: Brightfur

**LOLOL**

***is reading poorly-written creepypastas***

***suddenly sees reader, drops everything, and turns around***

**I'm SO sorry, guys!**  
**I can't believe how much I failed on my part by posting these chapters here!  
I hope you guys are still reading! D:**

* * *

"Brightfur!"

The silver she-cat looked up from her nest, yawning. It had been several sunrises since the day she had told Darkstar about Drizzlestorm, and she was worried sick but tried not to show it. Brightfur tried to dwell in the present and not malinger in the past.

"Whowhatwhere?" she yawned, getting up.

Ebonyflight appeared, looking as cheerful as ever. Her amber eyes glinted mischievously as she leapt up and down. "We're on border patrol!"

Brightfur sighed and padded out into the clearing. "Coming."

Maplestep and Eagletalon were talking outside, and then both turned to look at Brightfur as she approached. She managed a small smile, and Eagletalon smiled back, but winced as his injured paw hit the ground. It had only recovered two sunrises ago, and he was still favoring it.

"We're patrolling the MistClan border," Maplestep meowed, getting to her paws. Her ginger and white fur flashed in the small amount of sunlight and walking out of the camp entrance. Ebonyflight bounced after her, and Eagletalon slowed down to wait for Brightfur, who smiled as they padded along.

"We won't have to worry about an ambush on this border," the tom mused, and Brightfur shuddered as she imagined the grey night when Foxgaze was coldly murdered. She nodded.

"MistClan is actually quite friendly." Her silver tail flicked under his chin, and he laughed, pushing it away.

"I know, I know," Eagletalon smiled, before sighing and walking a little bit faster. Brightfur had to jog to catch up, her pine green eyes wide at the brown tom's sudden speed burst.

"Why do you think Drizzlestorm left?" he suddenly asked her, turning around.

Brightfur blinked. "Pardon?" she asked, slightly confused by the request.

"Why do you think Drizzlestorm left? Is she unhappy here? What does MoonClan—" he gestured at his hurt paw and rolled his eyes "—have to offer that we don't?"

Brightfur sighed. "I think…" she whispered, after a few seconds of thinking, "…I think she was in love." It made sense now that she thought about it, but it was still hard to wrap her mind around.

Now it was Eagletalon's turn to blink. "Really? But with who? I've not seen her act interested in anyone ever before." His ears suddenly flattened and he turned away quickly, but Brightfur had no clue why.

And suddenly it all made sense. "But I have seen her interested in someone," Brightfur realized, her eyes going wide. So many memories were rushing back, all at once…so fast that she had to close her eyes to keep up with them all…so many that she had never thought of again!

_"I'm fine," Drizzlepaw whispered, but only Brightpaw noticed the moony look in her eyes…_

MoonClan! Drizzlepaw's been to MoonClan!

"Pardon?" Eagletalon whispered in her ear, and Brightfur shook of all of the memories with a quick flick of her tail.

"Sorry," she laughed. "Got caught up in memories there for a second."

Eagletalon nodded and darted ahead to catch up with the other two, Maplestep and Ebonyflight, who were talking excitedly. Brightfur wondered what was so fascinating, so she sped up to listen.

"My brother," Maplestep was laughing. "I can't believe it! You hated him as a kit!"

"And through pretty much all of my apprenticeship," Ebonyflight retorted, flicking her tail under her friend's chin. "I still can't believe it myself!"

Brightfur pulled up next to her former mentor. "Hey, guys, what're you talking about?"

Ebonyflight laughed and stopped, looking sneakily at her old apprentice. "Are you telling me that you can't tell? Why, most every cat in the Clan has noticed except for you and Eagletalon!"

The said tom darted up at the sound of his name. "Did I hear my name? What's up, Ebonyflight?" Brightfur nodded, awaiting the reply with excitement.

The black she-cat giggled like a maniacal kit. "I'm expecting kits!" she laughed. "Oakscar's, if you all can believe it!"

"Oh gosh, really?" Eagletalon asked, flicking his tail across Ebonyflight's chin. "Congratulations!" His eyes were lit with happiness, probably because there would be some new kits for the Clan.

"Ebonyflight, I'm so happy for you!" Brightfur purred, pressing against her mentor and letting out such loud purrs that all of the patrolling cats could hear them. The raven-black she-cat grinned.

"I'm a little bit nervous, though. What if I'm not a good mother, and my kits don't like me?"

"You will be a great mother, just like you were a great mentor," Brightfur assured Ebonyflight, who smiled wistfully and flicked her tail with approval at the kind words.

"Thanks, and the best thing is that they're coming a couple sunrises after the Gathering, which as you all know is tomorrow!" The raven-black she-cat squealed and bounced up and down, while Brightfur froze mid-step.

The_ Gathering._

Tomorrow?

There weren't many cats going to this Gathering. This one was special. This one was the "Drizzlestorm reuniting" Gathering. The only ones going were Brightfur, Gingermoon, Squirreltail, Wolfheart, Berryfrost, and Darkstar. Odd to some Clans, but not to them.  
They were the ones who had known Drizzlestorm best.

_"My kit, don't fret all the time. It makes you seem like a dreadful worry-wart, and that's not how I wanted you to be raised."_ A low chuckle echoed around the clearing, and Brightfur froze. She knew that voice!

"Mother?" she whispered softly, hardly daring to believe it. The other cats in the patrol had gone ahead without her now…but she didn't care…

_"You've gone through so many changes…I wish I could be with you as you are still growing."_

"Oh, it is you," Brightfur purred, wishing she could feel Frostbreeze's soft fur brush hers…

_"Now, I have something very important to tell you…so please listen."_ Frostbreeze sounded urgent now, and Brightfur took a few steps forward.

"What is it, Mother? I'm listening—"

"Brightfur, who're you talking to? Come on, back on patrol!"

Eagletalon bounded through the trees, his eyes sparking with amusement as he spotted the silver she-cat sitting, looking dazed, talking to nobody. "Come on, you silly turtle!" Purring, he playfully nipped at her tail.

Brightfur blinked in surprise. "Did you just—!" She laughed and took off after him as they sprinted through the trees. But her mother's voice still haunted her every pawstep of the way.

_"I miss you, my kit. I will be back…_

_I will be back…"_


	29. Chapter Twenty-Eight: Sunflight

**Have I made up for being lazy? No? Well I'm still sorry. :(**

**But here's chapter 28 anyways!**

* * *

Dawn.

Dawn was usually a beautiful time to sit out in the center of the MoonClan camp and look up at the sunrise, streaking the sky with the millions of beautiful, light colors such as pink, scarlet, and golden. But now, after Foxstar's outburst, Sunflight failed to see the beauty he had seen a million times before.

His fur ruffled in the wind, he sat looking up at the sky, blinking in the harsh light of the rising orb that was the sun. Ice blue eyes narrowed as they crossed the sky, and then Sunflight let out a sigh of defeat.

"Trouble sleeping?" asked an ice cold voice behind him.

The golden tom turned to see the one cat that he didn't want to see most, besides Foxstar. "Waterfrost," he hissed through gritted teeth.

She padded up on slender, yet huge paws, and sat down beside him. Looking up at the sky, she remarked, "Beautiful sunrise, is it not?"

Sunflight didn't answer, and flicked his tail away from hers. He didn't know if this was all a ploy by her, or if she was still sour over the fact that he had brought a new she-cat to MoonClan, but until he knew what was going on, he wasn't trusting her.

Waterfrost turned to look at him, her sky blue eyes meeting his ice blue ones. "Why won't you talk to me?" She turned to look back up at the fading stars. "All I want are answers."

"What answers?" Sunflight's voice was cold, and unforgiving. Waterfrost flinched.

"When did you meet that newcomer? Really, Sunflight, you grew up with me, and I can tell when you're lying. Please, just tell me."  
Sunflight sighed. He couldn't say no to that cute little face that he remembered…Waterkit, as the first one who truly accepted him…Waterpaw, as the one who always tried to make the best of things…

"When I ran away and ended up in FlameClan, we had a conversation as kits. It was about how all Clans really are the same, if you truly think about it. And then, we met in the weirdest spots."

"She was on our first ever border patrol," Waterfrost remembered suddenly, seeming surprised that she did.

Sunflight nodded. "She came to watch us do our training at the pillars. And then, at the Gathering, we hung out together for the longest time. She haunted my dreams…" He trailed off, and suddenly the ginger and white cat hissed and scratched the ground in anger.

"But Sunflight, she ran away from her Clan! She spent basically her whole life mooning over you! She talked during her silent vigil! She's practically a traitor! She's despicable, and you still want her as your mate? WHY?"

"Sunflight," came another voice, calm and collected, from behind Waterfrost. "I'll take over this question."

The black and white she-cat took her spot on the opposite side of the golden tom and stared over at Waterfrost with pine green eyes. "Wouldn't you like to hear it from me, rather than him?"

The ginger and white she-cat glared but nodded at Drizzlestorm, allowing her to continue.

Sunflight blinked and sighed. It was the moment of truth. Waterfrost had hated Drizzlestorm from the moment she met her, and now it was the former FlameClan cat's chance to redeem herself, to the ones who hated her.

Show time.

"When I was a kit, I never thought I would fall in love." Drizzlestorm shrugged. "Why would I? That doesn't matter to kits at their age, mostly. When I met Sunkit, I thought he was nice, and I liked the way his fur shimmered in the sun or the moon, either way. But I didn't think of him as anything more than a friend—until after he left. Then I realized there was a nagging pain in the back of my neck, like there was a tick I couldn't scratch. I couldn't figure it out. All I knew was that I wanted to see you—" she pointed with her tail at Sunflight "—and that I wanted you to be proud of me. I still couldn't figure anything out besides that.

"I took every chance I could to get the itch to go away. When I saw you on the MoonClan border, the itch actually started to go away! I was about to find out what the feeling was! And then you left, ever so suddenly that the itch returned, so fast and furious that I felt terrible. I needed to stop that itch. I had to see you again.

"I snuck out when no cat was looking, and saw you two pounding your paws against hard rocks. I wanted to run out and help you, but it wasn't like I could. Then I heard noise. There was a fox, and it was attacking my brother and foster sister. I raced over there as fast as I could, and didn't think about the itch until the battle was over.

"The Gathering was the hardest—seeing you talk to Rabbitpaw made my itch double down my back. I wanted to screech, but I couldn't. I had to get away—and plus, Rabbitpaw had hurt my feelings so badly—and my pride as well. I wanted to stop the itch, but I couldn't. You walked in my dreams…" Drizzlestorm looked so depressed that Sunflight wanted to wrap his tail around her and make her feel better, but he didn't dare, as Waterfrost was still looking a little skeptically at the black-and-white she-cat.

"Go on," she meowed slowly.

Drizzlestorm nodded. "When you clawed me at the battle when Foxgaze died—I swear, my itch, my scratch, my internal pain, exploded. The death of a warrior tripled it. And then, when I became a warrior that night, the decision was made. I couldn't live like this anymore. I had to get away, or I would go insane. I had to stop the itch, which I had finally figured out was a little feeling." She purred and flicked her tail across Sunflight's muzzle. "A little feeling—called love."

Waterfrost sighed and stood up. "Well, can't argue with that. But why did you leave your family?"

"Oh, I didn't want to. I hated making them feel terrible—I bet Squirreltail is plotting his revenge right now!" Drizzlestorm rolled her eyes. "He always overreacts about things like this. But Brightfur—she'll be a nervous wreck. I don't know what is wrong with that she-cat. She's as jumpy as a mouse, and as sensitive as a cat's stomach."

Waterfrost laughed. "Want to come with me and see the leader's den? I'll get my dad to give us a tour."

The black and white warrior's eyes widened, and then she nodded. "That sounds great!"

As the two she-cats stalked off, whispering and laughing together like they had known each other all their lives, Sunflight heard only one thing in his mind—Drizzlestorm's voice, laughing as she purred the words.

_"A little feeling—called love."_


	30. Chapter Twenty-Nine: Drizzy's Confession

**Well, here we are. Chapter 29. This is going to be interesting...**

* * *

"Are all FlameClan cats going to tonight's Gathering ready?"

Darkstar lashed his tail as he paced in front of the gathered cats—only four, but enough. His black fur bristled slightly, and Brightfur knew that as indifferent as he seemed, he really did care about Drizzlestorm and wanted her to come back.

Gingermoon paced nervously, her fur spiked up along her neck, her green eyes ablaze with worry. The silver-and-ginger she-cat looked as nerved as Drizzlestorm had been when she left camp. Brightfur wished she could comfort her, but she was too nervous herself.

Squirreltail was trying to look like he was big and brave, but the silver warrior knew that inside his "I'm not scared" shell he was curled up in a ball, forlorn in the dark, just wanting to get his sister back.

She knew because she felt the exact same way.

"Are we going or not?" growled Wolfheart suddenly, breaking into everybody's thoughts. "I'm going to freeze my pelt off out here if we don't get moving—seriously."

Brightfur rolled her eyes. Drizzlestorm's former mentor had never seemed to have taken to his apprentices as mentors usually do, and she had no clue why Darkstar had invited him along. Was the leader that oblivious to what was going on around him?

Suddenly a voice whispered in her ear, "Wolfheart may not be the most pleasant of cats, but Darkstar didn't want to look weak by only bringing himself, the deputy, medicine cat, and three warriors. He had to bring him along to save FlameClan's reputation—or at least that's what he told me."

Brightfur turned her head and saw Berryfrost smiling at her, jade green eyes glinting in the sunlight, before the deputy whisked away to go stand by Darkstar.

As the black-as-night leader raised his tail and turned back to look at them before darting into the forest, Brightfur found herself wondering if FlameClan's reputation really rested on the number of cats at the Gathering, or Drizzlestorm and her decision.

*

The cats who were selected to go to the Gathering from MoonClan were Mousethroat, Snowfeather, Foxstar, Sunflight, and Drizzlestorm. At first Sunflight had protested—he didn't want something to happen at the Gathering that might hurt her—but she had insisted on going.

"If anything bad happens, we'll run back here," she had said, her eyes actually glinting with annoyance. Sunflight had sighed and agreed, although he still didn't feel good about his decision.

The elder Meadowsong walked in front of the cats to pick up a fresh turtle from the fresh-kill pile, but let out a long cough instead. Red liquid spattered out of her mouth, and Sunflight was scared to see that it was blood.

"Meadowsong," Snowfeather said, pacing up to the elder, beautiful eyes narrowed. Her long, white tail flicked across the she-cat's back. "Medicine den. Now."

The elder hissed slightly but didn't argue, disappearing up the ledge and into Shellclaw and Raindapple's den. Sunflight ached with fear for the poor old she-cat.

"Will they be angry at me?"

The golden tom was wrenched out of his thoughts by Drizzlestorm whispering in his ear. He was shocked to see that her fur was actually fluffed up in fear, but instead of making her look larger, it made her look smaller than he had ever seen her before, even as a kit.

"I don't know," he replied. "But if a fight breaks out, I'll protect you."

Drizzlestorm's "small" body was gone in a heartbeat, and now she seemed to be a million mice taller than him, looming above. "I. Am. A. Warrior. Too." she pronounced the words slowly, as if teaching something to a very young kit. "I. Know. How. To. Fight."

Before Sunflight could let out an indignant reply, Foxstar's voice echoed around the clearing. "Time to leave, Gathering cats!"

The others swept out in front of him, and Sunflight quickly found himself left behind. Letting out an indignant meow, he started to chase after them, but then paused at the sound of deep, heavy coughs—the same as Meadowsong's had been.

The other elder, Nightsky, was resting in the moonlight, small crimson beads of blood dripping out of the corner of her mouth. Sunflight opened his mouth, about to say something, when Drizzlestorm called, "Sunflight? Where are you?"

The golden tom took a deep breath and darted out of the camp. He just had to hope that the elders would be alright.

*

"Hello, Brightpaw."

Brightfur, who had been sitting at the Shale-Stone for a while, waiting for MoonClan—and Drizzlestorm!—to arrive, blinked at the voice that had spoken her old name. She looked up to see a large white MistClan tom with grey stripes down his back looking at her with a teasing grin on his face. She scrambled to her paws nervously.

"Um…I'm sorry, but do I know you?" she asked cautiously. The tom let out a purr of amusement.

"It's me, Cloudpaw—but I'm a warrior now: Cloudstripe," he reminded her, his tail flicking. Brightfur felt her green eyes get wide.

This was Cloudpaw?

Cloudpaw was playful and fluffy and smaller than she had been, but Cloudstripe was bold and taller and majestic, almost like a warrior of LionClan. He looked at her with a slight air of curiosity, and Brightfur had to fight back the last time she had seen him—being escorted back to camp to mourn his dead father.

"It-it's great to see you," she quickly recovered. "I'm a warrior now too—Brightfur."

Cloudstripe nodded and smiled. "It really suits you—your fur glows in the moonlight."

The she-cat looked down at one of her paws, trying to figure out what he meant, when suddenly a new scent hit her nose. Her eyes widened, and she got to her paws quickly.

"That's MoonClan!"

*

Sunflight decided to keep close to Drizzlestorm, to make sure that she didn't get into any trouble. He looked up at the Shale-Stone to see the three leaders all muttering among one another. Hollystar, the tortoiseshell, hissed and turned away from Boulderstar, who nodded, almost in amusement, and meowed something to Darkstar, who seemed to be as sulky as always. Foxstar leapt up to join them, but made sure to sit far away from the FlameClan cat.

"This is it," Drizzlestorm squeaked as the ginger tom let out a loud yowl like a TigerClan cat, his ginger fur gleaming.

"Cats of all Clans," Foxstar began. "MoonClan would like to bring to attention to FlameClan that one of their warriors, Drizzlestorm, has decided to fight beside us from now on!"

Drizzlestorm let out a nervous squeal as the FlameClan cats—only four, Sunflight noticed, turned and stared at her like she was crazy. One big brown tom glared at her with tiny daggers seeming to shoot from his amber eyes, and Sunflight drew his tail around her shoulders protectively.

*

Brightfur froze in place, Squirreltail began to shake all over, and Gingermoon began to wail. "Why? Why, why, why, my kit?" Darkstar let out a loud hiss and turned his back on Foxstar.

"For whatever reason?" he snapped, still not looking at the MoonClan leader. Brightfur felt her claws dig into the ground, her green eyes wide with dismay.

Then she spotted Drizzlestorm.

The black and white she-cat was pressed up against Sunflight, her green eyes equally wide, stealing nervous glances around the clearing, obviously trying to avoid Darkstar's gaze. But then she locked eyes with Brightfur and openly flinched.

Brightfur wanted to screech at her 'DON'T YOU SEE WHAT YOU'VE DONE? EVEN DARKSTAR MISSES YOU!' but she restrained herself.

Drizzlestorm seemed to get the message anyways, and looked away.

*

Drizzlestorm's eyes blazed with sadness, her fur fluffed up so much that she looked twice her size, yet so small, Sunflight thought again. Her head was lowered, staring at the ground. A wet teardrop landed on the dirt.

"Yes, it's true," she mumbled, loudly, but hard to hear all the same. "I've joined MoonClan." Her green eyes blaze with regret, and Sunflight was surprised by how homesick and lonely she seemed. He pressed against her comfortingly but she pulled away, hissing slightly, and Sunflight recoiled in shock.

"Why?" Squirreltail snapped, his violet eyes blazing fiercer than Sunflight had ever seen them before.

"B-because I have a mate in MoonClan," Drizzlestorm whispered so she was barely audible except to Sunflight and a group of others, her old Clan included.

"Who?" the dark brown tabby, who Sunflight had finally recognized as Wolfheart, Drizzlestorm's old mentor, snapped.

"Me," the golden tabby managed to choke out. Gingermoon whipped around to stare at him, her eyes flaring with confusion, shock, and most of all, disappointment.

*

No, no, no! It can't be!

It was Brightfur's worst fear, and Squirreltail's as well. She saw him shaking at the back of the crowd, his violet eyes nerved and bulging, his claws slipping in and out in the dirt.

*

Sunflight's gaze swept the cats around him. EarthClan and MistClan warriors were shaking their heads and rolling their eyes—they didn't care whatsoever what happened. The golden tom hissed, and then saw the FlameClan cats. His ice blue eyes landed on Squirreltail, who looked as if he had just been struck by lightning.

"Drizzlestorm." Darkstar's head rose higher, although he seemed confused in a way. "This will not be forgotten. If you don't come back you will be—" he gulped, like he didn't want to say the next words. "—you will be officially outcasted."

"Can we move on with the Gathering?" asked Boulderstar impatiently.

"Fine," hissed Foxstar, seeming incredibly tense for some reason. "You go next, then."

"EarthCan has been thriving—we have two new kits, Mousekit and Petalkit!" the brown tom announced jubilantly. The Clans cheered as Hollystar pushed her way to the front.

*

"MistClan has two new warriors, Cloudstripe and Wolfecho!" Hollystar meowed, and the Clans cheered partially. Brightfur cheered for Cloudstripe, but inside felt empty. Squirreltail didn't say anything, his eyes blank and empty like Eagletalon's the day Foxgaze died.

"Our prey is running well. MistClan has nothing more to report."

Darkstar stepped forward next. "We have two new warriors: Squirreltail and Brightfur."

Brightfur felt a horrible pang of depression close around her as she realized that the leader didn't even mention Drizzlestorm.

"FlameClan has nothing more to report," the black leader mewed.

Foxstar stepped forward and opened him mouth to speak but Squirreltail suddenly yowled, "WE DON'T CARE WHAT MOONCLAN HAS TO SAY!"

Brightfur was surprised at first, but then followed. "We ALREADY KNOW!" Her eyes clouded with pain.

Darkstar nodded in agreement and leapt down from the rock. The FlameClan cats headed out of the clearing, leaving some dumbstruck MistClan and EarthClan cats staring after them, but Brightfur looked back once more and yowled,

"We'll miss you, Drizzlestorm! Please come back or life will never be the same again!"

She caught a flash of sad green eyes and then she was gone.

* * *

**Yay! Chapter 30's next~**


	31. Chapter Thirty: Sunflight

**whoop-dee-flippin-doo... `_`**

**LOL JK.**

**Here's chpater 30 for reals guys.**

* * *

"Well, that was a waste of time."

Foxstar hissed as he stalked back and forth across the leader's ledge in the Moss Cave. "That was the worst Gathering I've ever been to, in all of my seasons as an apprentice, warrior, deputy, and now leader! I thought it was bad when Clawstar of EarthClan fell off of the Shale-Stone and lost a life many seasons ago, but apparently I was wrong."

Sunflight just sat there, looking up at his leader with concern, his fur bristling slightly. Waterfrost and Drizzlestorm were nowhere to be seen, but the rest of the Clan was there.

And they were all looking at him.

"Sunflight," Foxstar said, his voice suddenly softer. "I know that that she-cat is your mate, but we have to get rid of her. If she won't go back to FlameClan she'll have to become a rogue. Otherwise MoonClan will be stuck with FlameClan's hate forever."

The golden tom's ice blue eyes widened. "You want to…banish her from MoonClan? Since when did you do that?"

Foxstar openly winced, and the Clan started murmuring among themselves. Sunflight saw hostile glares shot in his direction, such as Voleclaw, Ripplebrook, and even kind Shrewnose! Did they all doubt his loyalty just because he wanted Drizzlestorm to stay?

"Go talk to her, Sunflight," said Snowfeather, darting up beside the leader. Her blue eyes stared into his. "She won't listen to any of us…but she'll listen to you."

"No! This is terrible—I'm not—"

"This is an order, Sunflight," Foxstar boomed out. "Go tell that flea-ridden excuse for a she-cat to leave MoonClan. If she ever comes back, StarClan forbid, she will have settled her disputes with FlameClan and will be absolutely loyal to MoonClan."

Sunflight's jaw fell wide open, but sadly he bowed his head and backed out of the cave.

*

Pale sunlight filtered through the clearing, making Sunflight's fur shine like the surface of a gentle stream. He padded over to the spot where Drizzlestorm had told Waterfrost her story just two sunrises before. It felt like a lifetime forever ago now.

His ice blue gaze traveled to a corner of the camp that looked out perfectly at the beautiful sky, where the familiar slender, black and white she-cat sat, looking up at the dancing colors of the sunrise. Sunflight approached her cautiously, not knowing how she would react, and wrapped his tail around her shoulders; he took it as a good sign that she didn't push it off and hiss, like she had at the Gathering.

"Was it worth it?" Sunflight murmured in her ear, hardly daring to breath.

"Hmm?" Drizzlestorm replied, snapped back to reality.

"Joining MoonClan? Was it worth it?"

"Yeah…" she meowed sadly, "but I still miss Gingermoon, my aunt Maplestep, my uncle Oakscar, Squirreltail, and Brightfur…and I won't even be there to see Ebonyflight's kits—they should be coming in another sunrise…" Her voice trailed off as her pine green eyes glazed with sudden realization, her tail, which had been slowly flicking back and forth, coming to a screeching halt.

"Really?" asked Sunflight, not truly convinced.

Drizzlestorm lowered her head and looked away—instead back out at the sky, where crimson, tangerine, and pink were twirling in the sky in a beautiful sea of colors, making way for the sun. "I can't lie to you," she murmured, sounding ashamed, "but it wasn't worth it. Even if the itch came back, I would still be home."

"So you-you're going back?" the golden tom asked shakily, secretly relieved that he wouldn't have to force her to go. Drizzlestorm nodded.

"After yesterday's Gathering, I realized that I gave up way too much. I've actually been thinking of a way out since dawn—and it's perfect." Her pine green eyes darted to a small hole in the camp wall, barely visible in the dim light.

"Ah, no!" Sunflight hissed suddenly, and Drizzlestorm jumped. "That hole has been guarded ever since a fox came in that way by our best warriors!" The image of Mousethroat, Emberheart, and Voleclaw, bloodied from their battle when he was just an apprentice, flashed through his head and he shivered.

Drizzlestorm looked surprised. "You mean…you're helping me?"

"Helping you?" Sunflight mewed playfully, and then froze. Was he really about to say the next words? Were they actually going to leave his mouth? Why was he going to say them?

…Foxstar hadn't been in a normal mood and had been unfair and unkind…

…almost none of the warriors of MoonClan actually trusted him…

…he remembered Gingermoon's kind voice screeching, "Sunkit, come back to safety with us!"…

…He hadn't gone then…

…but now he had to.

"I'm going with you!" Sunflight purred playfully, batting at her ear. Drizzlestorm's pine green eyes flickered and were flooded with happiness, but then grew dark and serious.  
"Are you sure that you want to leave?" she asked gingerly. "What about your family—Waterfrost, Mosspool, Foxstar?"

"Mind you, they're not truly my family," Sunflight answered solemnly. "They just took me in as a kit. Do you see a family resemblance?"

Now that I think about it, I didn't look anything like Blossomkit or Frostbreeze, either. Hmm.

"So you'll come?" The black and white she-cat didn't even wait for an answer, she just skipped around the clearing singing and jumping with joy. "This is going to be great!"

"Okay—the best way out is to go across this ridge, and around the colossal rock to that abandoned rabbit hole over there. I was told by an EarthClan cat that that leads to FlameClan."  
Without even waiting for him, Drizzlestorm squealed in delight and sped around to the hole. She gazed down into it inquisitively, shrugged, and leapt in with a wild whoop. "You coming, Sunflight?"

"Right behind you!" he replied, but before he actually could go right behind her, a voice came from right behind him.

"Sunflight."

He turned and sighed. This would be hard to explain.

"Oh, Waterfrost," he whispered, walking up to her and gently pressing against her side, but she pulled away.

"What are you doing, Sunflight?" she whispered, her eyes tingling with hurt. Her ginger and white pelt flashed in the new dawn. Cats would begin to wake up soon. Sunflight had to go now.

"I can't leave her," he replied to his foster sister. "Foxstar isn't the same anymore, and neither are you. MoonClan itself isn't the same. Right now, this no longer feels like home to me. Goodbye, Waterfrost. Maybe I'll see you at Gatherings."

Before he leapt into the tunnel, he heard Waterfrost yell out behind him, "Now I know exactly how Brightfur and Squirreltail felt. They've been abandoned, but they're getting their sister back. But I'm losing my best friend."

That was all Sunflight could make out before disappearing down the tunnel, hurt panging his whole body.

*

"Are you sure you know where you're going?"  
Drizzlestorm was looking scared now, and it did seem like they had been in the tunnel for an awful long time. Sunflight was shaken by the thought of being lost forever down here in the darkness, but kept a level head. It would be terrible for both of them if he lost it.

A tiny orange-red light gleamed at the end of the tunnel—what was it? The tiny light grew larger and more vivid as he pelted closer, Drizzlestorm at his heels.

Almost…

"We're here!" the she-cat yelled in joy, giving a tremendous leap…

…and landing directly on the back of a plump black she-cat, who was dozing quietly. The she-cat woke with a loud screech. "Intruder! I'm being attack—"

"Ebonyflight, it's me!" Drizzlestorm cried, wheeling in front of the she-cat so that she could see her face. Sunflight nervously followed as the black and white cat continued to talk. "And I brought a friend—"

"GET AWAY FROM MY MATE!"

Before Sunflight could react, a dusty brown tom barreled through the entrance to what must have been the nursery of FlameClan and landed on Sunflight's golden back, pushing him over with surprising strength for a non-MoonClan cat.

"Wait, Oakscar!" Ebonyflight yelped. "It's Drizzlestorm and a friend! She's come home!"

Sunflight felt the weight get off of his back. "Who are you?" Oakscar hissed in the golden tom's ear.

"My name is Sunflight, and I've come to join FlameClan." His words were lucid and tensed, and Oakscar laughed.

"Doubt you'll be able to adjust. This will never be your home, MoonClanner." He smirked and walked away to curl up next to Ebonyflight.

Drizzlestorm squealed, "I can't believe we're finally home!"

But Sunflight found himself wondering…

Am I really home?

* * *

**Reviewing is always nice. :)**


	32. Chapter Thirty-One: Brightfur

**Hey forum guys if you ever come on here!**

**The mods banned Swift and I's account, my new screenname for the forum is Sable!**

**Just saying...**

**'Tis a new update!**

* * *

Brightfur was exhausted from the sour Gathering, diving into sleep almost immediately, Squirreltail beside her. He was still shaking, even in his sleep, so the silver warrior pressed up against him and purred comfortingly, but she truly didn't feel like purring whatsoever.

Twinges of pain pulled at her stomach as she uncomfortably drifted into an uneventful slumber, except for one dream that she had.

She didn't want to remember it.

But she did.

_"Drizzlestorm?" Brightfur whispered, moving forward to the MoonClan border, so that she stood one pawstep away from stepping into the land of the hard-pawed. "Are you there?"_

A figure stirred, but it wasn't Drizzlestorm.

Brightfur gasped as she realized it was Frostbreeze. "Mother!" she yelped in surprise and started forward to rub against her but Frostbreeze's tail flicked in front, stopping her.

"You are a disappointment to me," the older cat hissed, and Brightfur skidded to a halt, her green eyes wide.

"What do you mean, mother?" she whispered airily, but there was no reply as Frostbreeze slowly began to change into a young black and white she-cat, stepping out of her mother's skin…

"Drizzlestorm?" Brightfur whispered nervously, stepping backwards.

"I'm never coming back, I'm never cooooming ba-ack," the former FlameClan warrior whispered teasingly, whipping her tail around Brightfur's chin. "Never, never, ne-ver!" she sang, her voice gradually growing deeper and deeper until she sounded exactly like Lionfur.

And then she was Lionfur.

Her fur had turned a dusty golden brown, her claws streaked with blood, her eyes amber, evil, and showing no mercy. She wasn't a she anymore, but a he. Lionfur was standing right in front of Brightfur.

"I have no regrets," he growled, and lunged at her face with bloody claws outstretched…

*  
Brightfur's pine green eyes snapped open, her nest drenched in fear-scent. Several loud meows of surprise were echoing right outside of her den. Yawning, she padded outside…

…and came face to face with a black and white she-cat she thought she would never see in this camp again.

"Drizzlestorm!" the silver warrior yowled triumphantly, still not sure if she was hallucinating or dreaming or what, but whatever this was, she liked it. "How's it been?"

"Great, just great, but it's SOOOOOO much better here!" Drizzlestorm meowed jubilantly, bouncing around. "I've never slept in the warrior's den here! I've not eaten a bite of prey here since I became a warrior!"

"Are you staying for good?" the silver she-cat mewed anxiously.

"It depends on what Darkstar thinks, as usual, and also what Sunflight believes is right," Drizzlestorm replied, rolling her eyes. "But yes, I plan to stay for good."

"Sunflight—oh, yes!" Brightfur realized out loud. "He's your mate, isn't he?"

Drizzlestorm nodded. "But if he feels unhappy here and decides to go back to MoonClan…I don't know what I'd do." She looked so hurt that it was hard for any cat, even Lionfur or cold-hearted Darkstar, not to feel sorry for her.

Brightfur twined her tail in her friend's and purred words of encouragement.

"I'm sure he'll like it here. After all, he lived here as a kit, right?" The memories from what felt like a million lifetimes ago suddenly swarmed her, and she almost had to close her eyes to block them out.

The black and white she-cat looked a little bit better, but not much. "Yes, he'll love it," she said quietly, as if trying to comfort herself and not Brightfur.

Suddenly a light brown shape crept up behind Drizzlestorm and leapt on her playfully, bowling her over and batting her ears with sheathed claws. She wriggled in surprise and reared backwards, whipping around to see her brother staring at her with an awestruck look in his eye.

"Squirreltail!" she squealed, and for a minute, her voice sounded just like little Drizzlekit's, the kit who didn't care about anything in the world but her family and having fun.

"Drizzlestorm!" he replied, in an equally adorable voice. Brightfur had to choke down her emotions as the two raced up to each other, pressing against each other and purring loudly.

"You won't believe just how much I have missed you, I swear to StarClan," Squirreltail managed to choke out, his words muffled as his muzzle was buried in his sister's fur.

"Oh, I think I can believe it!" she replied, "because I felt the exact same way."

Brightfur felt a wonderful warm feeling bubble up inside of her, and she started to purr.

Drizzlestorm is back!

Suddenly she noticed a golden shape wander out of the nursery. Her green eyes widened as she realized it was Sunflight.

Brightfur recalled that Drizzlestorm had mentioned him approving her decision, but she hadn't realized that he had actually come here. To join FlameClan? A stone-hearted cat joining her Clan?

No, this was the same Sunkit from so many moons ago, the one that had seemed so mysterious and confusing to her, the one that had appealed to her what seemed like just last season.

The one that looked like Shadowkit.

With all of the Drizzle-drama Brightfur had almost forgotten about her missing family and troubled life, and her dead mother and brother. Now it all came rushing back like a destructive, roaring tidal wave.

"I have to think about this," she murmured to herself as Sunflight came padding over. "Right now, I'll concentrate on the good things. Drizzlestorm. Is. Back. That's all that matters…"

But a part of her was still lost in her memories, back in a time so simple that the hardest thing that she had ever had to do was please her mother. Now it was so much more.

* * *

**Hmm... I can't think of something clever to put here anymores...**


	33. Chapter Thirty-Two: Sunflight

**Here's a chopper.**

* * *

Sunflight looked over at Brightfur, his head slightly cocking to one side as he noticed her delighted expression turn into a worried and slightly anxious frown. He wanted to go over and ask what was wrong, but didn't want to seem weird or rude, so he kind of hung back, kicking at the dirt with one paw.

Drizzlestorm and Squirreltail were still frolicking and playfully batting each other with sheathed paws—so small compared to MoonClan's!—while exchanging stories all the while. Sunflight had no idea where to go without seeming like an awkward outcast.

He looked over at the warrior's den to see some young cats looking out at him with wide eyes. Eventually a young ginger-and-white cat slowly padded out and walked up to him, looking directly into his eyes.

"Um…aren't you from MoonClan?" she whispered. "I think I've seen you at Gatherings before. Sun…sunwhisker, is it?"

"Sunflight," he replied curtly, trying to figure out who this cat was. He recalled her face, and knew that he had heard her voice before, but no clear name was coming into his mind. She seemed to sense his awkwardness.

"Oh, Sunflight, is it? Nice name. I'm Flowerbreeze, by the way, and this is my brother, Duskstorm." Flowerbreeze beckoned at a dark grey cat standing a few mouse-lengths away. As soon as Sunflight saw him, he froze.

This was the other FlameClan cat who had been at the battle where Foxgaze was murdered.  
Duskstorm seemed to remember him too, but obviously didn't want to talk about it in front of his delicate-looking sister. "Nice to meet you," he grunted instead, looking away. Sunflight muttered the same words.

"So…why are you here?" Flowerbreeze asked curiously. "Did you come to escort Drizzlestorm home?" She turned to look at the black-and-white cat, who was now sitting with her tail wrapped over her paws, talking to Brightfur and Squirreltail.

"N-not exactly," Sunflight stammered, his golden fur on edge. "You see, I'm here to join the Clan with her."

Flowerbreeze's eyes grew wide in amazement, but Duskstorm openly hissed. "How could such a cat join our noble Clan? You were there when Foxgaze died, but it was a MoonClan cat who broke Eagletalon's leg! Was it you?"

"Did someone say my name?"

And there he was. The cat that Sunflight had last seen sobbing his heart into his paws on the ground, one of his legs bent awkwardly backwards.

Eagletalon.

When the brown tabby spotted Sunflight, his eyes lit up with surprise, and then narrowed into tiny slits. He darted up to him and hissed, "What are you doing here? I'm surprised any cat who has the nerve to be allied to EarthClan has come here."

Sunflight's eyes went wide. "I-it's not what you think! I'm going to joi-"

"Get. Out." Eagletalon snapped.

"No!"

Suddenly Flowerbreeze was in front of Eagletalon, her green eyes glaring as she sheltered Sunflight from the angry tom. "Please, let him explain! He probably didn't even have anything to DO with your sister's death, so stop wading in the past and look on to the future! The way you are right now, so depressed, it's not like you'll ever find a mate!"  
Eagletalon openly flinched, and then quickly recovered, straightening up as the ginger-and-white cat continued to speak.

"You're not the only cat who's had bad experiences with MoonClan battles, Eagletalon!" For a minute, Flowerbreeze flinched, and Sunflight could now see, for the first time, a long scar running from her left shoulder all the way down to her right haunch, pink and crusted with dried blood, on her back. "Just give him a chance!"

"That's right," Sunflight cut in. "If Waterfrost—she's the one who broke your leg—had known Lionfur would make that move, she wouldn't have performed the Bone-Breaker on you, honest! MoonClan cats break bones to make enemies a little weaker—down one warrior, maybe. But NOT so that other cats can land cheap shots."

The golden tom and ginger-and-white she-cat stood shoulder to shoulder, glaring at Eagletalon, who hissed slightly and stalked into the warrior's den.

"Flowerbreeze?" Sunflight admitted. She looked at him inquisitively, and he grinned as he said, "That was awesome."

She blushed, and her ears went down a little bit. "It was nothing, really," she purred. "I've wanted to knock some sense into that cat's head for a long time now." Her tail flicked back and forth, and Sunflight noticed once again her horrible scar.

"Uh…Flowerbreeze? If you don't mind me asking…how did you…you know…um…"

"Get my scar?" She looked up at him with large green eyes, and then sighed, looking down. "It's fine, really. You don't know how many cats have asked me that at Gatherings. But you might be a little bit upset by the story. Are you sure you really want to know?"

Sunflight nodded curiously and Flowerbreeze began.

"It was the night my brother and I were going to be warriors…and there was a horrible battle against MoonClan. Duskpaw and I were backed against the border by three cats—all with those horrible mutant paws!" Flowerbreeze glanced down at Sunflight's paws, and then looked embarrassed by her words. "Well…um, you know what I mean."

Sunflight's ear twitched. "Go on."

"So Duskpaw was fighting off these two monster cats—one was this giant, muscular, irregular blue-grey she-cat—"

Sunflight's head cocked to one side. Ripplebrook isn't muscular or irregular…

"—and then this giant grey tom with the scariest green eyes you've ever seen!"  
Sunflight's eyes widened as he realized that she was describing his old mentor, Pinecloud. He wanted to tell her that everything she thought about his friends wasn't true, but he also didn't want to interrupt her story.

"And so I was left fighting the final cat, and he was the worst of them all! He was dirty brown, with creamish chest fur, and these scary eyes that looked as if they were all black. His claws sliced and diced, and I was screaming to my brother for help, but he was too busy, and…" Flowerbreeze made a slicing motion with one of her claws. "Bam. I was down on the ground. My mentor, Berryfrost, got me out of there real fast, but I was too badly hurt to become a warrior that night. Duskpaw became Duskstorm, and I was left in the dust."

Mousethroat! She was describing the kind warrior that had saved Sunflight from being banished from MoonClan! It had never occurred to the golden tom that Mousethroat had actually hurt a cat before—he just seemed to nice to do that.

"It took me one-and-a-half moons to recover, and it was so hard for me to watch my brother trot around like he owned the place. I thought he had forgotten me. I thought that now, now that I was a cripple, I wasn't good enough for him." Flowerbreeze sighed and looked down at the ground. "Then I became a warrior. Flowerbreeze, and I was so, so happy. But the scar remains—a scar that will last a lifetime."

"Thanks for telling me," Sunflight mewed curtly, and then froze as a familiar scent hit his nose. Darkstar! He hadn't seen the black leader since the last Gathering!

"Sunflight, is it?" the leader of FlameClan hissed as he padded through the gathered cats. "I remember you. You used to be a shrimpy little kit. What's happened to you now?"

"I-I've grown up, I guess," the golden tom stuttered nervously, looking away. Darkstar snorted.

"You say you want to…live here? Is that so? Well, I'm too tired to do any decision-making right now. I was up last night for the Gathering, and even leaders need their sleep. We'll discuss this in the morning, unless something big happens before then."

As the leader turned away, Sunflight stood there, dumbstruck, hardly believing his good luck, and then he jumped when Darkstar whipped around and yowled, "Go! Go to your new den. Again, we'll decide in the morning."

And Sunflight was left standing in the middle of the FlameClan camp, smiling slightly, but, as he thought about Flowerbreeze's tale, it made a part of him feel empty inside.

* * *

**Rain says hi**


	34. Chapter Thirty-Three: Brightfur

**Rain says hi again.**

* * *

The pale rays of dawn's sunshine filtered through the warrior's den, landing square on Brightfur's pelt. She looked up, squinting in the light, and then extended her front paws in a long stretch, being careful not to prod Sunflight, who was sleeping in front of her.

The golden tom was twitching and waving his huge paws in his sleep, and Brightfur felt a pang of pity for him. It must be so hard for the formerly MoonClan cat to adjust.

The silver warrior got slowly to her paws and began to walk out of the den, dodging all the sleeping cats. Surprisingly, one of the nests was empty, and on further investigation, Brightfur discovered it was Oakscar's. His nest hadn't recently been slept in, either. He must have been with Ebonyflight all night.

As Brightfur padded into the camp, she looked around to see if there was anything she could do—go on an early patrol, help Shadowwhisker sort herbs, anything really—when there was a horrible, pained yowl from inside of the nursery.

Brightfur froze, and her ears flicked up. That yowl! It was Oakscar!

The dusty brown tom, who was currently not in sight, cried out again, in a horrible scratchy voice that pained the she-cat's heart, but she didn't know why.

"HEAL HER, SHADOWWHISKER! YOU CALL YOURSELF A MEDICINE CAT?"

Suddenly it all made sense to Brightfur, and surprise raced through her pelt, along with a touch of nervousness and fear.

Ebonyflight! Wasn't she supposed to give kits this morning?

Although she knew she had no right to do so, Brightfur dashed into the nursery as fast as her silver (and black) paws could carry her. As soon as she skidded in, one of the most horrible sights she had ever seen met her eyes, and she had to choke back a sob.

Bright crimson droplets scattered the area where a still Ebonyflight lay, her flank moving up and down, but barely. Her amber eyes, usually so feisty and full of energy, were slightly glazed over, and every breath she took sounded like a cough, or a wheeze, more than anything else. Next to her were two wiggling kits—one pale grey and white like Featherspirit, and the other pure black like Ebonyflight. Oakscar had another kit at his paws—dusty brown like himself, but no matter how much the father licked it, the kit wouldn't move. Shadowwhisker, the Clan medicine cat, sat next to them, her head bowed.

"I cannot do anything," she whispered. "I'm so, so sorry."

Both Oakscar and Brightfur let out equal yelps of shock, and in a flash, Oakscar was next to his mate, whispering words in his ear, desperately hoping that it would work…that anything would work…

Ebonyflight's flank moved slower and slower, but nothing could last forever, and eventually it just stopped, without a trace. The black cat's amber gaze was completely glazed over, and now Brightfur could even see her reflection in it. She didn't know what to say or think. All she knew was that Ebonyflight, her mentor, her lifetime friend, the one who had rescued her and given her a new name, was…

…dead?

It was impossible! She couldn't die, she was too good of a cat to join StarClan at so young! Her whole life was stretched out in front of her, and she had to die over the birthing of some dumb kits.

The kits! There were still two that were alive, and they needed milk fast. Brightfur hurriedly began to lick their wriggling pelts to warm them, but they wouldn't stop mewing. They were hungry, and their mother's dead body wouldn't provide them with good milk.

She was about to voice the question to the other two when Oakscar interrupted her.

"Shadowwhisker…why did she…"

"She was very young to give kits—not as young as Falconpelt of EarthClan, but young enough. And one of the kits was…well, I don't want to go into detail about the whole thing, but it was bad. Bad enough…"

"To kill her," Brightfur finished, choking out the words like they were poisonous.

To kill her.

Such simple words—only three, and each only one syllable long, but yet so deadly. Those three words could be taken to mean almost anything, and right now it was the worst of things. Brightfur couldn't hold her emotions back anymore. She started to cry.  
She and Oakscar mourned the body for a while, Brightfur letting silent sobs escape her mouth every few heartbeats, and Oakscar just sitting there, a cloud of depression hanging over his body. And still the two remaining kits wriggled and twisted, calling for their mother to give them milk.

Brightfur looked over at the kits, and noticed their tremendous resemblances to Ebonyflight and Featherspirit…wait, Featherspirit? In MistClan!

"We can take the kits to MistClan to get milk!"

Both Shadowwhisker and Oakscar stared at her as if she had just sprouted wings and flown away to touch the sun. "What? Why would we do that?" Oakscar asked, with his brown tail curled protectively over Ebonyflight's still, already-cold shoulders.

"Because her sister lives there!" Brightfur exclaimed, full of excitement now. "I'm sure if Featherspirit knows that these are Ebonyflight's kits, she'll convince Hollystar to let one of their queens suckle the kits until they can eat meat, and then they—"

"—can come back and live with us, Brightfur, by StarClan's name, you're a genius!" Shadowwhisker purred. "And no, I'm not surprised that her sister lives there—I saw how their mother acted when she was picked to go to Gatherings, or visit the MistClan camp. I knew that she was expecting two kits, not just one. But that's off-topic—I'll go discuss this with Darkstar right now."

As the black she-cat picked up both of the kits by their scruffs, since they were small enough that she could do that, Oakscar, who had seemed completely quiet until that moment, burst out:

"Wait!"

Shadowwhisker turned back, her head cocked to the left side in silent confusion as the two kits squealed to be put down.

"C-can I name them?" Oakscar seemed ashamed that he was asking, but Brightfur said, "Certainly!" as the medicine cat nodded her approval.

The dusty brown tom looked his two daughters over, sniffing their scents and feeling their new, velvety soft kit fur. His eyes narrowed in concentration, he began to mumble names under his breath, and then smiled.

"I think I've got it."

"Let's hear it, then!" Brightfur purred, wondering what the tom would pick.

"For the grey and white one, I'd like to call her…Willowkit. And as for the black one, she will be Aspenkit. Do you like these names?"

Brightfur grinned. "I couldn't have picked them better myself! Now go, Shadowwhisker, before the sun gets too high in the sky and we can't take the two to MistClan."

As the dead body of Ebonyflight lay in the background, cold against the vibrant life in the nursery, the medicine cat nodded once and sprinted out of the den.

* * *

**~Singing a song~**


	35. Chapter Thirty-Four: Sunflight

**UPDATE TIME! SORRY FOR THE DELAY I'M BEING LAZY LATELY!**

* * *

"Mmm…Waterpaw, get off of me!"

The golden tom tossed and turned in his sleep, kicking his paws up and around and hissing slightly as he did so, yet a small smile curved in the corners of his mouth as he dreamed, eyelids shut over content, dreaming blue eyes.

*

_"Aaaaand I win the game of moss-ball!" the ginger-and-white she-cat crowed proudly, strutting around the den like she owned the place. The golden tom laughed and leapt on top of her playfully._

"But I can always beat you in a fight," he teased. She shrugged, performing a quick tuck-and-roll to get him off of her, and then leapt up to her paws, grinning and baring her pure white teeth, curved in some places so that it looked as if she had fangs.

"Are you so sure about that?" Waterpaw grinned.  
Sunpaw glared at her playfully and then flung himself at her, paws outstretched, knocking her to the ground…

…and directly on top of Snowfeather. The two apprentices had been playing in the warriors' den yet again, and now they had just woken up the deputy!

Sunpaw's eyes widened, as well as Waterpaw's. They both began to back slowly toward the entrance, but not before Snowfeather had opened one of her blue eyes halfway, grumbled something under her breath, and closed her eye again. Sunpaw breathed a sigh of relief.

"We should get out of here," he hissed to Waterpaw, who was still watching the deputy, her tail flicking nervously as she said so. But she laughed and shook her head.

"Are you kidding? This is the most fun I've had since the Stone Pillars!"

"You were complaining a lot then," Sunpaw pointed out exasperatedly. Waterpaw shrugged and rolled her green eyes.

"But now I think it was kind of fun!" she chirped as she bounced around the warrior's den. "Fun, fun, fun, fun!" The little apprentice suddenly yelped as her paw landed on a dusty brown tail, making the warrior whose tail it was shoot up in pain, yowling. Waterpaw seemed to shrink backwards, and Sunpaw with her when he realized who it was.

Voleclaw, Waterpaw's super-strict mentor.

"Waterpaw?" he growled, getting to his paws slowly and favoring the one that she had just stomped on. "Waterpaw, did you just wake me up like that?"

Waterpaw's eyes were wide, and she began to stutter. "Um…er…u-um…"

"It was me."

All of the cats that were awake in the den turned to look at Sunpaw with surprise in their eyes. He shrunk backward as Voleclaw's glare seemed to shake him to the bones. The brown tom stepped forward until he was directly over Sunpaw.

"You?" he snapped. "You're Pinecloud's apprentice."

"Yes I am," Sunpaw replied defiantly, although his legs felt like they were nothing but mouse-tails. "And I'm very sorry that I stomped on your tail."

Voleclaw sniffed indignantly and muttered, "You'd better be sorry," before stalking off to lie down in his nest again, with his paws over his head.

Waterpaw darted up to him and pressed her pelt against his, a smile spreading from ear to ear across her face. "OH. MY. STARCLAN. THANK. YOU." she whispered loudly in his ear. "You are the BEST FRIEND EVER."

Sunpaw noticed with a jolt that she didn't say "brother" but instead "friend." Maybe it was time to accept that he was a foster kit, and nothing more. "You're welcome," he whispered back, twining his tail in hers. "Just watch out next time."

Waterpaw laughed and nodded. "Definitely."

*

"YOU CALL YOURSELF A MEDICINE CAT?"

This loud yowl erupted from the nursery, sending Sunflight staggering out of his dream-memory and into the real world. His light blue eyes, foggy at first from sleep, slowly cleared, and he could see the rest of the FlameClan warriors awake and staring at him, as if he had something to do with the distraught wails outside of the den.

"W-what is that?" whimpered Flowerbreeze.

"Sounds like Oakscar to me," grunted Duskstorm, wrapping his tail over his sister's shoulders as if to protect her from the dusty-colored tom's hisses of fury and agony.

"What's going on in the nursery?" asked Sunflight in confusion. Squirreltail snorted and rolled his unusual violet eyes.

"Of course you wouldn't know, Stoney-foot. But Ebonyflight was supposed to give her kits last night." The dusty brown tom yawned and pawed at the ground sleepily.

"Don't you suppose we should go see what's wro—wait a minute, what did you call me?" Sunflight asked, getting slowly to his paws and stalking over until he was nose-to-nose with Squirreltail. The tom blinked up at him slowly, his face curving in a small smile.

"I said Sunflight. You must have hearing problems, MoonClanner."

The golden tom shook his head slowly. "I know that you didn't say Sunflight. But I don't know what you did say. And I don't know if I want to find out!"

Squirreltail laughed, unsheathing his claws in and out in the dirt as he did so. "Oh, Stoney-foot, you have soooooo much to learn about life here in FlameClan." The tom's dusty brown tail poked Sunflight in the shoulder, almost like a rough bramble bush then a reassuring, compassionate gesture.

"Squirreltail!" Drizzlestorm hissed, getting to her paws now. "You do not call my mate names! He's my choice and you should just back off!" Sunflight was almost blown backwards by the intensity of her tone.

The other cats in the den watched with wary eyes, before a larger ginger and white she-cat, who looked like an older Flowerbreeze, said, "Come on, we ought to go see what's troubling Oakscar. Nice job hearing his calls, by the way, Squirreltail."

The dusty brown tom seemed to puff out with pride. "Thank you, Maplestep."

"But I was the one who heard—" Sunflight began to speak but Squirreltail swept his tail over the former MoonClan cat's mouth.

"Not a word, Stoney-foot, not a word," he laughed, before walking outside of the den just in time to see the black tail of Shadowwhisker disappear into Darkstar's den. Little mewling sounds followed her. Sunflight stared up in wonder when suddenly a silvery shape flashed in front of them. He gave a start backwards, realizing that it was Brightfur, looking distraught. Her pine green eyes were watery as her gaze swept the assembled cats.

"What's happened, Brightfur?" asked Wolfheart gruffly. Drizzlestorm nodded in agreement, looking shocked to see her friend so disturbed.

"E-e-ebonyflight," the she-cat choked out. "She's…d-d-d-…" It seemed as if Brightfur couldn't speak, just sobbed on the ground with her paws on her muzzle.

"Oh no," whispered Gingermoon faintly. "Not…surely not…"

Brightfur looked up at her foster mother and nodded once before sobbing into her paws again, her silver tail flicking back and forth in distress. Eagletalon took a few steps forward and placed his tail over her shoulders comfortingly. When the silver she-cat seemed to sense his presence, she appeared to get a grip and stood up, ready to speak again.

"She had three kits—two survived. They're with Shadowwhisker, in Darkstar's den. They're named Willowkit and Aspenkit. They will die if we don't get them to MistClan so that they can get milk. So far, no cat's volunteered to go but me—to go to MistClan and take them to Featherspirit, you know, Ebonyflight's sister." Brightfur rolled her eyes. "Of course you wouldn't know. Well, Featherspirit is…"

But Sunflight had zoned out. A thought was running through his mind—one that perked his curiosity.

Could Featherspirit be the Featherpaw that saved Snowfeather from drowning in the river so long ago, when they were just apprentices?

The golden tom lingered on this thought for a moment, and then decided that he just had to find out!

"I'll go with you, Brightfur," Sunflight blurted out, and all of the FlameClan warriors looked at him with wide, surprised eyes, Brightfur's the widest of all.

"Really?" mewed the she-cat, her green eyes lighting up. "Thank you so much, Sunflight, that would be great—perfect, in fact!"

"It's the least I could do," Sunflight said modestly, looking down at the ground and kicking it with one paw. But Squirreltail let out a loud series of whines.

"Hey, I wanted to go!" he protested. "I would be soooo much better than Stoney-foot here!"

"QUIT. CALLING. HIM. THAT." Drizzlestorm snapped at her brother, her black and white fur flaring up as she did so. Squirreltail rolled his eyes in exasperation and just stepped back, mumbling something under his breath. His sister stalked toward him with malice in her eyes. "What did you just say?"

"N-nothing."

"We might want to get away from them," whispered Brightfur in Sunflight's ear, jerking him back to reality. He had been staring at the quarreling siblings with a sense of confusion. From what he remembered, he had never fought with Blossomkit like tha—

_—URGH, SUNFLIGHT! STOP THINKING ABOUT YOUR DEAD SISTER!_ he snapped at himself in his mind as he and Brightfur padded away from the quarreling siblings.

"I'm sorry Squirreltail is giving you such a hard time," whispered Brightfur. "He's not usually like this. I don't know what's gotten into him." She looked embarrassed and glanced away.

"It's fine. He just doesn't like that I've gotten in his way with Drizzlestorm," Sunflight mewed apologetically. "It's not your fault whatsoever."

"And I think that MoonClan is a great Clan. I hate war. I think that we should stop fighting and all be friends," Brightfur continued in a low whisper. Sunflight nodded rapidly.

She knows exactly how I feel!

Suddenly Darkstar's cry rang out from the head of the camp. "May all those cats old enough to catch their own adder join me at the Fire Rock for a Clan Meeting!"

_Here we go,_ the golden tom said in his head as the warriors of FlameClan, himself included, gathered around the fiery stone.

* * *

**Will the two find each other... ****_alive_**** in the next chapter?**

**Will Aspenkit and Willowkit live?**

**What will happen when Sunflight goes to MistClan?**

**TO BE CONTINUED!**

***evil laugh as lightning cracks ominously***


	36. Chapter Thirty-Five: Brightfur

**Sorry for the late update! Drizzle117's been busy lately...**

**Please don't kill her!**

* * *

Brightfur padded along next to Sunflight, for some reason feeling completely at ease and not cautious whatsoever. She guessed some of her Clanmates thought it was weird that she was content standing next to a former MoonClan cat, but it didn't seem odd at all to her. Sunflight had a sort of…familiar tingle about him, a sense that her intuition liked, but she couldn't place where she had felt that same tingle before.

_Probably when he was a kit and came to FlameClan for a day—yeah, that must be it._

The silver she-cat looked around and was shocked to see Squirreltail glaring at Sunflight with narrowed violet eyes. The dusty brown tom appeared to be muttering something under his breath, and kept unsheathing and sheathing his claws in the dirt.

_What's under his fur? I understand his anxiety at having a MoonClan cat in the camp, but why hate him this much?_

Squirreltail had always been such a nice, kind cat, but now he kept showing random bursts of emotion that Brightfur didn't understand whatsoever, and she doubted she ever would. All she knew was that Squirreltail, that dusty brown tom who had once been such a good friend to her, was now so changed she could hardly even recognize him.

Brightfur was shaken out of her thoughts by Darkstar's yowl. He was standing on the Fire-Rock, his silver eyes gleaming. Next to him was Shadowwhisker. In the black she-cat's jaws was a tiny grey form. Next to her was an ebony bundle, curled up and letting out tiny squeals.

"Aspenkit and Willowkit?" Drizzlestorm hissed at her. Brightfur started, as she hadn't seen the black-and-white cat creep up beside her, but recovered quickly and nodded.

"Warriors of FlameClan," the black leader called out. "Do we have our volunteer to go with Brightfur to bring these kits to MoonClan? To get milk for the first three moons of their lives?"

The silver warrior nudged the golden tom, and he stepped forward, quivering slightly. "I-I'd like to go, if that's okay."

There were some murmurs of surprise and distrust from the cats around them. Brightfur noticed Wolfheart, Whitescar, and Eagletalon looking particularly suspicious, their yowls rising louder than the rest.

"I bet he's just trying to find MistClan's camp so that when he goes back to MoonClan he can lead them right to them—and us as well!" Eagletalon hissed, the brown tabby's tail flicking back and forth.

Wolfheart nodded, digging his claws into the ground. "Who says he wouldn't? Maybe Drizzlestorm is just his excuse to stay here."

Whitescar's tail flicked in agreement. "Yes, he's—"

But the senior warrior was interrupted by a new voice, weaving among the others as easily as two blades of grass slipping among each other in the wind. "He's just a Stoney-foot, is all. A Klutzy-Paws from the clan of cold-blooded killing shells!"

Brightfur almost dropped to the ground right then when she saw who was speaking.

Her old friend, Squirreltail.

Why was he like this? Why could he be acting with such hostility, when he used to be so nice and innocent? The silver warrior felt like yowling to the sky with all of the questions she had bottled up inside of her, but stopped when she saw Sunflight's raised hackles and spiked up fur flatten.

The golden tom took a few paces forward and turned to face the watching Clan, their eyes gleaming with anger and suspiciousness. He sighed and took a deep breath, looking to Drizzlestorm quickly. She nodded, and Brightfur watched with anxiety as Sunflight began to speak.

"I never knew Ebonyflight well," he began. "I've seen her at Gatherings, seen her on border patrols, heard her name rumored among the cats of MoonClan. I wish I could have known her better, because from what I know, she was a great cat, loyal and humorous but still deadly serious to the very end, and I would be more than happy to take her kits to her sister's Clan, rather than see them join StarClan and waste the preciousness of Ebonyflight's spirit. This is why I wish to bring them to MoonClan. Do you really want the spirit of possibly the most upbeat cat in your Clan to die forever, or do you want an outsider who is trying to prove himself to you to help keep her alive forever?" As he finished, Sunflight's ice-blue eyes glared defiantly out at the FlameClan cats, daring them to challenge him.

Dead silence fell.

Brightfur herself was speechless, her pine-green eyes staring at Sunflight in shock. She hadn't known he could produce such a touching yet meaningful speech about a cat that, as he had said, had hardly ever knew. Obviously all of the other FlameClan cats were surprised too, as they were staring at him with open mouths and wide eyes. Drizzlestorm purred proudly.

Some cat stepped forward, and for a heartbeat, when Brightfur saw the dusty brown pelt, she panicked, thinking it was Squirreltail, but her heart calmed down when she saw that it wasn't the violet eyed tom, but Oakscar, Ebonyflight's mate. Brightfur braced herself for another "Klutzy-Paws" remark, but it never came.

"T-that was…beautiful," the brown tom choked out, and he pressed his muzzle against the other cat's. Sunlight's eyes reflected his surprise, but then he calmly pressed against Oakscar as well, sensing the other tom's satisfaction at his doing so.

"I'm sorry about your mate," the golden tom whispered.

"Thank you," Oakscar replied softly, stepping back and staring out at his Clan, all of which except for Brightfur, Flowerbreeze, and Drizzlestorm, were staring at the dusty brown tom as if he had grown a second head.

"You say this young tom is untrustworthy?" Oakscar snarled, digging his claws into the dirt. "This here is one of the best cats we have. To adjust so quickly from his own home, and to say **** wonderful words about a cat he hardly even knew, he must be loyal!"

"Oakscar, grief is muddling your mind and senses," Squirreltail hissed, padding over towards his uncle, whose color of fur he had inherited in exact shade.

"It is not!"

"It is, and this tom is just another Klutzy-Paws, like the rest of his no-good Clan!" the brown tom snapped, and threw himself at Sunflight, paws outstretched, jaws twisted in a villainous jeering smile. Drizzlestorm let out a terrified squeak.

"Squirreltail, what's happened to you? Don't!" she wailed, getting to her paws.

"SILENCE!"

Everyone froze and tried to figure out where the voice was coming from. Brightfur quickly identified it as Darkstar, whose jaws were bared and neck fur bristling.

"Squirreltail, Oakscar, I'd like to see you in my den. Brightfur, Sunflight, take the kits now and go!" He waved his tail and meowed loudly at the shocked Clan.

"This meeting is now dismissed."

* * *

***an ominous wind blows eerily through the night*...**


	37. Chapter Thirty-Six: Into the Mist

**So here we are.**

**Finally, Chapter 36.**

**I apologize for the slow update, but my co-author/editor Drizzle117 can't be rushed.**

**So please enjoy...**

* * *

Sunflight watched as Squirreltail padded into Darkstar's den, along with Oakscar, who was grumbling something under his breath. It wasn't Oakscar who worried the golden tom, though, it was Squirreltail. His lavender eyes were flashing furiously in Sunflight's direction, and his wordless expression made the golden warrior flinch.

"Hey Brightfur!" he yowled as the silver she-cat, who had been talking to Drizzlestorm, spun around quickly in surprise at hearing her name. "Make sure you keep Sunflop in line—he might ****** those kits away to the loony MoonClan cat—"

Before the dusty brown tom could finish, he was roughly shoved into Darkstar's den by Oakscar, who grinned at Sunflight, flicked his tail once, and followed. The golden tom felt his heart warm with gratitude. If he had friends in FlameClan, maybe it wouldn't be as bad as he thought.

"I'll tell you, I think that Squirreltail will never forgive you for taking me away," sighed Drizzlestorm with regret, her tail and ears drooping as she looked with a melancholy expression on her face at Sunflight.

"Don't worry yourself, Drizzy," Brightfur mewed. "We both know that Squirreltail is a very kind cat at heart. He will forgive Sunflight…eventually." But Sunflight noticed that she looked nervous, her claws sliding in and out, as if she hadn't believed her own words.

"It's fine, Drizzlestorm, really," the golden tom mewed hastily. "I used to be teased all of the time by…" Sunflight felt his voice trail off. He couldn't even remember who he was talking about—until a single named flashed into his head.

Blossomkit.

She had called him fat, lazy, weird, odd, dumb, all of the time. He had done the same to her. They had both forgiven each other. They had both known it was a game.

All of that was gone now.

"By who?" squeaked Brightfur as her green eyes rapidly lit up with odd traces of hope and excitement. Sunflight didn't know why she looked so hopeful.

"By…Waterfrost—uh, yeah! You know, when we were kits!" the golden tom lied quickly, hoping he didn't sound suspicious.

"Oh." Brightfur looked down at the ground, scuffling her one black paw with her other front paw, pure silver. Her voice had an odd trace of regret and sadness in it, something that Sunflight couldn't seem to figure out.

A brown tail landed on Brightfur's shoulder, and she looked up in surprise. "Uh, guys?" Eagletalon asked, sitting down next to the silver she-cat, an air of annoyance in his voice. "What about the kits?"

"Oh, right! Sorry, Eagletalon, we'll get right on it!" squabbled Sunflight as he approached the black medicine cat who had the two stirring she-kits at her paws. Her deep green eyes trailed from the kits to Sunflight, and she sighed.

"Be careful," was her only warning as she placed the grey-and-white kit in front of Sunflight and the black one in front of Brightfur.

"We will, Shadowwhisker, we promise," the silver she-cat breathed as she took her kit—Aspenkit, right? Sunflight wondered—and the golden tom took his, which had to be Willowkit. Shadowwhisker nodded and darted to the back of the crowd.

"Make sure you come back safely!" Sunflight saw Flowerbreeze yell. He could swear that she winked at him when she said that.

"We will, Flowerbreeze! And we assure all of FlameClan that Aspenkit and Willowkit will, in three moons time, come back safe!" yowled Brightfur. The Clan roared in approval.

*

"So…do you know how to get to the MistClan camp?"

Brightfur shook her head; the question had been nagging at her since they had left. "No, I must say that I don't." She felt Aspenkit wriggle in her jaws as she formed the words around her.

"But you're allies!" Sunflight protested loudly through his half-open jaws. Willowkit let out a squeak, and Brightfur winced. She knew that if any cat was too loud in this part of the forest, all of the precious adders would hear them and be frightened away.

He's learning, she reasoned to herself. No reason to get my tail tied in knots.

"Have you ever been to the EarthClan camp?" Brightfur shot back at him, slightly annoyed by his irksome questions.

Sunflight looked down at the ground and didn't say anything as he slowly trudged along.

The she-cat smirked. "I didn't think so." She stopped for a heartbeat to place Aspenkit on the ground and re-adjust her in her jaws, and then continued to move onward.

It didn't take them very long to reach the MistClan border, and the tom squinted, his blue eyes not seeing anything through the thick fog. Brightfur tried in vain to see anything at all, but her green eyes couldn't seem to penetrate the wall of mist.

"How do they see through this stuff?" Sunflight grumbled, placing one paw over the border, evidentially stepping on a sharp stone and bouncing back with a yelp.

"Their eyes have adjusted, I guess. I don't know, they're weird," Brightfur shrugged off his question like it was a pebble on her paw.

Sunflight sighed. "Well," he mewed. "I guess it's time to head in."

*

The fog drenched Sunflight to the bone, and both Willowkit and Aspenkit were squealing as their fur sagged from the wet air, making them feel like rocks in the travelling cat's jaws.

"Since when is Aspenkit—or any kit, for that matter—so heavy?" mumbled Brightfur through a mouthful of ebony black fur that so resembled her former mentor's.

"It's the fog," Sunflight answered. "MoonClan gets foggy sometimes and your fur takes in the moisture from the air. It makes you feel heavier, because you're being weighed down by the water."

Brightfur, whose fur was now a dark grey, nodded, sighing. "I've never been this wet before," she told Sunflight. "This is probably a FlameClan record for how wet a cat is."

"Weird," mewed Sunflight. He couldn't imagine not getting wet—it was part of MoonClan to scramble through streams. FlameClan might be a little bit harder than he thought to adjust to.

Suddenly a pair of bright green eyes shone in the mist, and a medium sized dusty brown she-cat sprang out of the fog. She hissed, her claws unsheathing as she snarled the words.

"Why are you in MistClan territory?"

Sunflight froze.

MistClan! he shrieked in his mind. Enemy, enemy! I've got to run for it!

Brightfur momentarily glanced at Sunflight and a worried look struck her eyes. The golden tom wondered if he was visibly shaking—Great StarClan, he hoped he wasn't.

"Well?" the cat hissed as she approached  
Sunflight so that they were muzzle to muzzle. The golden warrior became mute with fear, his tongue feeling as if it had been tied into a million knots.

I'm such a coward! he thought to himself nervously as she she-cat's breath breathed down his throat. For a second he thought she would scratch him if he was silent for a heartbeat longer.

"What are you, deaf?" the MistClan she-cat hissed.

Sunflight closed his eyes and prepared for the blow, when suddenly Brightfur paced forward, looking the she-cat straight in the eye. "We're here to ask for help!"

The cat looked confused as she seemed to notice Brightfur for the very first time. "Wait a minute—weren't you at the Gathering when Smoketail was pronounced dead?"

Brightfur nodded as Sunflight took a few hasty pawsteps back. He was worried that he was going to end up like Snowfeather, thrown in the river, but no one would or could save him now! This was terrible—maybe he couldn't be part of FlameClan, if he would act like this every time he came upon his new allies…

"So do you know us?" asked the silver she-cat testily, narrowing her eyes and smirking.

"Yeah…uh…" the brown she-cat hesitated. "You're Brightflight and Sunfur! Yeah, from…um…EarthClan, right?" She looked hopefully at both of them, waiting for conformation, but all Brightfur did was roll her eyes. Sunflight figured that this cat didn't pay much attention at Gatherings.

*

"Brightfur and Sunflight. We're of FlameClan and…um…FlameClan." Thinking of Sunflight as a FlameClan cat was too hard for Brightfur's mind to process right now. "And you're, um…ah-ha! Leafclaw, right?" The silver she-cat was surprised she had remembered the name, but then realized that she had heard some MoonClan cats describing her as daft and foolish, and that's how she had remembered.

"That's correct." The brown she-cat's ear twitched with annoyance. "What do you want with us?"

Out of the corner of her eye Brightfur saw Sunflight's fur fluff up in…was that hostility or fear? She wasn't quite sure why he was acting this way—perhaps he was too used to being enemies with MistClan to all of a sudden become their friends.

"Well, these are the kits of Featherspirit's sister, Ebonyflight, who has just joined StarClan, so—" the tom started, his voice shaking just the tiniest bit, but he was cut off by Leafclaw, who looked at him in surprise.

"These are Featherspirit's nieces? Why didn't you just say so in the first place, instead of let me toss you around like that? Quickly, we'll have to take them to the camp—Wolfecho can take them in. She's just had her litter."

Sunflight looked so surprised that Brightfur wondered if he would fall over if she poked him with a stick. "Come on, mouse-brain, don't let her get away!" she hissed to him as Leafclaw's brown shape darted into the mist.

*

Thank StarClan she didn't rip my pelt off! Sunflight thought to himself as he darted after Brightfur, Willowkit clamped firmly in his jaws. But what was I worried about? I'm allies with this Clan now!

But whatever the stakes, the golden tom still couldn't forgive any cat in this Clan for nearly killing Snowfeather. Not only that, but the idea of teaming up with MistClan just seemed rather odd. The mist grew thicker and thicker still as he thought, until the whole world was completely bathed in the thick, mysterious mist. Sunflight couldn't see his own paws—or anything else, for that matter. He was like a kit in a blizzard of white.

Suddenly Leafclaw turned to look at them, her green eyes being the only thing Sunflight could see of her. He could sense Brightfur and Aspenkit's presence right next to him as the MistClan cat spoke.

"We're here," she mewed. "Welcome to MistClan camp."

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**Well, most likely there won't be any more updates until next year, I want to wish you guys a Merry Christmas, Hanukkah Sameach, Happy Kwanzaa, or what ever else you all celebrate.**

**Thank you all for reading this story!**

**Drizzle117 and I probably won't see you until 2013...**

**Until then! Have a Happy New Year!**


	38. Chapter Thirty-Seven: Brightfur

**Surprise! Driz and I are back with another chapter! We thought that we'd make a mad dash inour progress to give you guys this right before the year ends. A bit short, yes. But its still progress.**

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The MistClan camp was very small, much smaller than the silver warrior had imagined it to be at first. There were hardly any dens that swept her vision, which confused her. Where was the nursery? Where would the kits stay?

Leafclaw seemed to read her mind as she noticed the rival warriors searching in vain. The brown cat laughed at their obvious confusion. "The nursery is a little bit further away from the main sector of the camp. It's swathed by fog."

Brightfur saw Sunflight nod through the thick mist, and she understood too.

"It's kind of like how FlameClan sets the nursery on fire," she whispered to the golden tom, who nodded, his blue eyes sparking with realization, his tail flicking in the fog. Brightfur couldn't see it, but she felt the wind generated by its movement brush her fur gently.

"It's hard to get through," Sunflight said politely to Leafclaw, who looked proud that the other cats liked their defense system.

"Can you take us there?" the silver cat asked the other she-cat, but the brown cat shook her head.

"The nursery queen who will take care of your kits is coming. I can smell her," the MistClan cat meowed, looking up and scenting the air carefully. Brightfur tried to smell through the fog but couldn't scent a thing. She supposed it was another of the MistClan abilities.

Slowly a young, dusty brown queen emerged from the fog. A milk scent clung to her fur, and her light blue eyes flared with surprise as she noticed the newcomers and stared at them in surprise. Three small kits, a little older than Aspenkit and Willowkit, peeked from behind her legs.

"Leafclaw?" The queen's voice was short and curt. "Who are these…cats?" Brightfur was nerved by how scared the queen seemed of her and her companion. On second thought, it appeared that the she-cat was very young, maybe Drizzlestorm's age. And with three kits already?

"Wolfecho," the dark brown cat answered, bowing her head as if queens held some sort of ultimate respect in this Clan. "These cats are called Brightpurr and Sunlight…"

"Brightfur and Sunflight," Sunflight corrected as if automatically programmed to do so. Leafclaw glared at him in annoyance and continued, her tail flicking in pure exasperation. Brightfur had a feeling that this cat didn't like being corrected.

"Okay, whatever—well, anyways, they have the kits of Featherspirit's sister—"

But the brown MistClan cat was cut off once again, but this time not by Sunflight. It was a voice Brightfur knew, but only vaguely, from a hunting session so many moons ago…

"Ebonyflight's kits?"

A grey and white she-cat on the edge of the clearing came bouncing out of the fog almost immediately, her eyes wide with surprise as she stared at Sunflight, Brightfur, Leafclaw, Wolfecho, and then finally the two kits.

"Featherspirit!" the silver she-cat purred, looking at her mentor's sister with a pang of sadness in her heart.

"Brightpaw? Is this really the little apprentice who caught that juicy squirrel so long ago?" Featherspirit purred back, pulling her gaze off of Aspenkit and Willowkit and finally turning to face her sister's old apprentice. "Why have you brought Ebonyflight's kits here? They're beautiful, by the way. She never thought she'd have any…I told her she'd be a great mother, though." The grey and white cat rolled her eyes and waited expectantly for the answer.

Brightfur felt a twang of regret gather in her heart. "Well, um…you see…" she began, not quite sure how to break it to the sensitive she-cat. But Sunflight, who wasn't aware of Featherspirit's easily aggravated feelings and obviously wanted to break it to her as quick as he could, butted in.

"She has passed to StarClan," the golden tom blurted out.

The grey and white she-cat stared at them in shock. "What do you mean? She's not…she can't be…I…! No, no, you're lying! You're playing some kind of cruel joke on me! Well, it's not funny!" She looked at them with pure despair in her eyes. "Oh, Brightpaw…please tell me this isn't true!"

Brightfur's heart twisted into a large knot and she had to choke out the next words. "Oh, Featherspirit…I'm so, so sorry."

The grey-and-white cat's head lowered, and for a couple heartbeats she stared at the ground—but when she looked up next, her eyes were completely blank. Brightfur was reminded of how Eagletalon had looked the day Foxgaze had died.

"Why did you bring her kits here?" Featherspirit's voice was flat and completely emotionless. It scared the silver cat a little bit, but she wasn't going to let that show if she could help it.

"W-we thought that one of your queens could take care of them. Willowkit and Aspenkit are their na—" Sunflight started to say, but he was cut off by Featherspirit hissing and yowling so loud Brightfur thought every cat in MistClan could hear her.

"They'll just die! Like she did!" she screamed. "Just take them away! Get them out of my camp, out of my home! Go away!" On the last word Featherspirit's voice cracked and she darted off into one of the mist covered dens and began to sob.

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**Hope you liked!**


	39. Chapter Thirty-Eight: Sunflight

**... I don't mean to sound like this mere fanfiction is as good as Mother 3 (which it isn't!) But this chapter reminds me a LITTLE bit of Chapter 6 in that game...  
Sort of.**

**Anyways, so sorry for the late update! January is pretty chaotic for us both...**

* * *

Sunflight looked up hopelessly at Brightfur, but his gaze quickly traveled to the grey and white she-cat who had just thrown herself into the corner of the camp wailing. Her fur was streaked with mud and watery tears, her paws over her head, her tail wrapped around her soft pink nose.

_What in StarClan's name was_ that _all about?_ the golden tom wondered nervously, watching as a few cats of MistClan padded over to the depressed she-cat and began to whisper to her. Brightfur luckily seemed to read his mind.

"Featherspirit, as you know, was Ebonyflight's sister," she began. "Their father died before they were born and their mother died when they were very young. Despite being from different Clans, they grew up not just as sisters, but as best friends."

"Then why'd Featherspirit just freak out like that?" Sunflight rolled his eyes in exasperation and flicked his golden tail from side to side. _I have a littermate who died, along with a mother who was murdered, and if my littermate told me to take care of her kits before or after he or she died, I'd gladly take them!_ he almost proclaimed, but stopped himself.

_Argh, Sunflight, you mousebrain! You told yourself you wouldn't think about Blossomkit again!_

His train of thought was interrupted by Wolfecho's tentative mew. "M-may I take them?"

When the two FlameClan cats blinked at the brown queen in surprise, she hurriedly meowed, "Even if Featherspirit doesn't want them, I'd love to take them. I'm sure my kits would welcome them with open paws." The dusty brown she cat looked down at the ground nervously, as if afraid Sunflight would say no.

"That would be great," Brightfur jumped in before Sunflight had a say. "Thank StarClan that _someone_ would take them!" She laughed and rolled her green eyes teasingly, her silver plumed tail flicking back and forth.

"Please, you thank Ebonyflight for being such a good cat." Wolfecho's cheery face faltered. "Also, you two should stay here for a bit, you know, until Featherspirit settles down. Would that be alright?" The nursing queen looked nervously back at the sobbing she-cat. "She was my mentor, you know. She should come around."

Sunflight didn't hear this last bit. His knees had locked in place, his body beginning to quake with fear. Why this was happening, he couldn't quite understand, but he knew that he hated this feeling.

_I can't stand it here! Must I stay? Oh StarClan, please don't make it so!_

Wolfecho stopped awaiting Brightfur's response and turned to look at Sunflight with a concerned look on her face, the queen's dusty brown tail flicking back and forth in confusion.

"Sunflight?" hissed Brightfur next to him. "What's wrong with you? Answer her!" The hurriedness in the she-cat's voice quickly grew to a pure panicked tone as the tom still stood stiff. "Sunflight?"

"Can you stay here or not?" Wolfecho repeated, annoyance lining her voice tone now.

Sunflight's blue eyes darted back and forth. _I have to say something!_ "Um…I just can't put my paw on it but I know I don't belong here!" he yelped so fast that only Brightfur could understand him. She rolled her eyes.

"For _StarClan's sake,_ Sunflight, they won't hurt you here! We're _allies_ now, remember?" Her teeth grit together as the word "allies" escaped her jaws, her pine green eyes exasperated now, but a little worried also.

Before Sunflight had a chance to respond, another cat yowled from across the camp, "What's all this yowling about?"

The golden tom whipped his head around quickly to see a magnificent tortoiseshell she-cat leap down from seemingly purely out of the mist. He knew this cat—he had seen her at Gatherings before. But he just had to hope that his suspicions weren't correct…

"It's just Brightfur and Sunflight of FlameClan, here for us to foster these two kits, Hollystar, nothing else," Wolfecho mewed hurriedly. Brightfur didn't seem fazed, but Sunflight's knees went weak.

_Great StarClan, I was right! Hollystar!_

"That still doesn't explain that loud jumble of who knows what," the she-cat rolled her eyes, drawing her tongue across her ruffled chest fur as she did so.

"S-sorry, Hollystar," squeaked Sunflight, shrinking behind Brightfur. Sure, the MistClan leader wasn't very intimidating, actually looking a bit more like a kittypet than a warrior, but this was a cat he had been trained to fear his whole life.

"Wait a minute." The golden tom flinched as the leader's gaze swept onto him. "Aren't you from MoonClan?" Hollystar's eyes narrowed. "Step forward, warrior."

Sunflight tried in vain to move but there was no use—his knees had gone stiff and his paws wouldn't allow him to take another step. Brightfur gave him a harsh shove from the side. "Come on, Sunflight! She just wants to talk!"

"I-I can't!" These words came out more like the squeak of a kit rather than a rather seasoned warrior. Sunflight felt his ears lower in shame—the only part of his body he could seemingly get to move.

"Why in StarClan's name not?" snarled the tortoiseshell she-cat, beginning to look a little bit angry now, which only made Sunflight's emotions panic even more. _She could still hear me? How is that…_

All of a sudden the world around him began to spin from side to side, back and forth, darkening in color and turning completely black. _Oh, StarClan, not again!_ was Sunflight's last thought before the golden warrior fell with a loud thud to the ground.

*

The fog from the MistClan camp had seemingly vanished into a pleasant Greenleaf scene. Sunflight's pelt was no longer damp and heavy, but instead felt almost as if it was light and fluffy, as if he was a kit again. Cherry blossoms surrounded him, and the sun was high in the sky. It was really quite a beautiful place, but there was only one question.

_Where am I?_

"Oh Shadowkit, my dear," a soft voice rang throughout the air, as silky sweet as honey. "I am so proud of you."

_Shadowkit?_ Sunflight thought to himself, bewilderment making its way into his thoughts. _Only two cats have ever called me that…but this is an older cat, so it has to be…_

"Frostbreeze?" Sunflight called out, hope lingering in his voice. "Is that you?"

Almost instantly a silvery she-cat appeared from seemingly thin air, her fur embellished by mystical stars of the night that sparkled and twinkled so beautiful Sunflight almost had to shield his eyes. She was just as he had remembered her, except her face didn't appear so stressed, and she had never had stars in her fur.

"Mother!" Sunflight yowled, pelting toward the green-eyed she-cat, who welcomingly wrapped her long, fluffy tail around his body and began to purr.

"Yes, Shadowkit, I am Frostbreeze." Amusement twinkled in his mother's eyes. "I'm glad you remember me. Currently we are both in StarClan, but…" she appeared to squint at something that Sunflight couldn't see and sighed. "…we won't have much time."

Sunflight's face fell. "But…but I have so many questions, and…"

"Then you had better start asking them," his mother purred, delicately grooming his ears as she did so, just as she had when he was a kit. The golden tom racked his brain for ideas, but one came to mind instantly.

"…can you call me Sunflight? It's what I'm used to."

Frostbreeze laughed a tinkling laugh. "I'm afraid not, _Shadowkit,_" she teased playfully. "I've always quite adored that name. I'm not going to stop just because of Pebblefall's choice in re-naming you."

"Second of all…did I just _die_ of fear back there?" Sunflight's voice quaked at the question, and he was relieved when shock flitted across his mother's face, alighting in her green eyes.

"Oh, no, no, no! You just _fainted_ of fear, not death." A determined grin crept across Frostbreeze's face. "I've never heard of a MoonClan warrior actually be scared to death!"

"But I'm FlameClan now, Mom," Sunflight mumbled, but he could tell his mother was pretending not to hear him. The golden tom sighed and continued talking regardless.

"Third of all…was Shadowbird—who I know is my father, by the way—your murderer?"

Frostbreeze sighed, and a tired, aged look crept across her face. "Well…not exactly. He did not kill me with his own claws—I hadn't seen him since the day you were born. But I could say that he was the cause of my death." She scraped the ground with pointed claws. "My pointless, _pointless_ death."

Sunflight decided not to inquire about that any further. There was just one question that he had been dying to ask, but was almost too scared to. But…he had to know. "Fourth of all…why is Blossomkit not here right now, in the stars?"

"She isn't here," Frostbreeze replied plainly, still scraping at the ground.

"Not here? Do you mean, not here in StarClan? Or…is she still alive? Is that even possible? But…no, where is she?"

Frostbreeze finally looked up, staring at him with her deep green eyes. She opened her jaws to say something, but all of a sudden Sunflight felt his eyes began to flicker. He looked down nervously at his paws, noticing they were fading.

"You're waking up," Frostbreeze meowed, but it was so hard to hear her over the rush of adrenaline that Sunflight had to concentrate hard.

"BUT MOM!" he yowled loudly. "WHERE IS BLOSSOMKI—"

But it was too late. As Sunflight's features were whipped away into darkness, the only thing he could hear was his mother's voice yowling over the sudden wind, _I miss you, Shadowkit. I will always watch over you…_

And then his eyes snapped open.

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**Will you forgive us for our random updates? I sure as heck hope so!**


	40. Chapter Thirty Nine: Brightfur

**UPDATE! UPDATE!  
CHANT WITH ME, GOD DANGIT!**

* * *

"He's waking up, he's waking up!"

Brightfur stopped playing with the kits and bounded over towards where the unconscious golden tom lay in the middle of the clearing, his flank slowly rising and falling as his ice blue eyes flickered open. Sunflight looked around, confusion in his gaze. "W-where…?"

"You passed out, but you're fine," a young she-cat Brightfur knew to be the medicine cat apprentice, Lichenheart, meowed, dipping her head at the confused Sunflight.

The golden tom staggered to his paws weakly and stumbled backwards. Brightfur darted behind him right as he fell, and pushed him back up, with some effort. "A-are we going back to FlameClan now?" he mewed shakily.

"In your condition, it's probably best you stay here," Mudtail, the deputy of MistClan, meowed, placing one paw on Sunflight's shoulder, but Brightfur cut him off quickly.

"Yes, Sunflight. We'll go back home. After all, the others are waiting to hear the news about the kits, _right?_" She put a lot of force on the last word, poking him in the back with one paw nonchalantly as she did so.

Sunflight blinked his blue eyes, looking confused for a few more heartbeats, and then recognition dawned in his gaze. "Yeah. Um…y-yeah…sounds good."

Brightfur smiled, her long silver tail twitching back and forth playfully. _I hope you realize that I just saved your sorry skin, mousebrain._

She had realized what must have happened while Sunflight was…asleep. He was used to MistClan being his enemies. Of course he'd feel uncomfortable around them. If Brightfur had joined MoonClan (StarClan forbid she would ever do that!) and she had to visit EarthClan, she would probably do the same thing. The silver warrior had learned all she wanted to know about EarthClan the night of Foxgaze's death.

Willowkit and Aspenkit, along with two of Wolfecho's three kits, stumbled up to them. The three kits of Wolfecho were really quite cute, with very diverse personalities.

One was named Frostkit, a silver tom who loved playing with Aspenkit, another was named Birdkit, a very small dusty tabby who liked talking with Willowkit, and the final one was Songkit. She seemed different than the others, more sour and unwelcoming to her new guests—in fact, she was the only one of the kits not over here now. Brightfur wondered where she had gone.

"B-b-bifur?" Aspenkit squeaked in a tiny, squealing kit voice. The little black kit looked so confused it was hard not to feel sorry for her.

"Bifur! Sufight!" Willowkit padded slowly up to Sunflight and touched her nose to his paw, blinking up at him with large eyes that seemed as round as the moon.

"Goodbye, little ones," the silver she-cat meowed, choking back a sob. "I'll miss you, but don't worry, I'll see you again." Leaning down, Brightfur touched her soft pink nose first to Aspenkit's, then to Wilowkit's.

"_We'll_ see you again," Sunflight corrected, an irritated edge to his tone.

Brightfur nodded, watching the kits dart away and begin to play-fight, cuffing each other around the ears and giggling maniacally. She sighed, thinking of Ebonyflight, and how she was supposed to be here, watching her kits play.

_Goodbye, little ones,_ the silver she-cat thought sadly. _I'll miss you._

The beginning of the trek back to camp was easier than the first, probably because they didn't have the kits in their mouths weighing them down. With their mouths now available, the two cats now had more freedom to speak to one another; although they could have talked about a million things, there was an uncomfortable silence for a long time.

Sunflight broke it. "Brightfur?" he asked cautiously. "There's something I've been meaning to ask you." His blue eyes were nervous and worried, his golden coat puffed up to twice its size, and his tail lashing back and forth in anxiousness.

Brightfur held up one paw suddenly. "Not now, Sunflight."

The tom protested. "But—"

"It can't be as important as this," the she-cat hissed, looking around her, pine green eyes wide. Her silver fur began to bristle. "I think…" She gazed around, seeing nothing but close by trees and thick, white mist. "I think we're lost."

Sunflight's ice blue eyes widened. "What? Can't we just go back to MistClan and get a guide?" He looked worried now too, tail lashing even faster and claws unsheathing and sheathing, in and out, digging into the dirt.

Brightfur looked about her, panic creeping throughout her tone. "Oh StarClan… I don't think that I can find my way back to the camp. Too much mist… too much fog…" The silver she-cat was pacing now, eyes wide and absolutely speckled with fear.

"What'll we do?" the golden tom asked, his voice rising. "Should we just walk in one direction until we find FlameClan or MistClan?"

"Bad idea," Brightfur sighed. "Suppose we bump into MoonClan or EarthClan? That'd be terrible; they'd tear us to shreds!" Too late she remembered where Sunflight had come from; seeing his ears flatten against his head and his claws dig into the dirt reminded her a heartbeat later.

Suddenly a tom's voice, calm and collected, spoke from the shadows. "I believe I might be of use?"

Brightfur hissed, her fur spiking along her back, while Sunflight unsheathed his claws and yowled, "Who's there? We're not afraid to fight, if it comes to that!"

The voice chuckled, a deep, melodic tone that sent shivers running down the silver she-cat's back. "I am not looking for trouble." Out of the fog emerged a dark grey speckled tom with ruffled, messy fur and a long, skinny tail. But none of this caught Brightfur's attention. What she really noticed was his pale blue eyes, like rainwater collected into a puddle. Even though they were a common color for a cat's eyes, they still nerved her, like Darkstar's silver ones.

"My name is Soot," the rogue said, twirling his tail and flicking it under Brightfur's chin. "I've lived in this territory for moons now. I know the way in, I know the way out. I'd be willing to help you."

Sunflight sighed. "Brightfur, why should we trust this rogue? We should just find our own way out." The golden tom was clearly irritated, but the silver she-cat didn't see why.

"It's the only option we have," Brightfur replied, feeling an eerie tension as the rogue's pale blue eyes swept over her. "And if he turns out trying to attack us, well, it's two heavily skilled fighters against one small cat." She stared at Soot with angry green eyes, and he shrugged.

"Let's get going, then."

Soot did eventually lead them out of MistClan territory, but it seemed to take moons of wandering and double taking back in the mist. Brightfur's silver pelt became so soaked that it turned a darker shade of grey, almost matching her one black paw. It was unnatural and nerve-wracking, and Brightfur wanted to get out of it as quickly as possible.

Finally the grey-speckled rogue stopped next to a roaring fire. "I'm guessing this is where you two want to be dropped off?" he said mischievously.

"Yes, this will do," Sunflight grumbled through gritted teeth. He hadn't said a word the whole way back, and clearly didn't like having to work with this rogue he knew nothing about. Neither did Brightfur, but she tried to be more agreeable about it.

"Thank you, Soot," Brightfur said to the rogue. He shrugged. "It was no problem, truly." And before anything else could be said, the grey cat had disappeared back into the fog. Brightfur blinked and shook her head as if to clear it.

"We'd best get going," Sunflight said to her, leaping through the fire. The silver cat followed as Sunflight continued to speak. "They'll be wondering where we've gotten to, since we've probably stayed longer than they thought it necessary."

Brightfur nodded as they darted through the forest. It was so natural to her that she didn't even have to think about where she placed her paws. It was harder for the golden tom; he kept stumbling over tree roots and stones.

As they ran, Brightfur yelled over the wind, "There was something you wanted to ask me, before we figured out we were lost? What was that?"

Sunflight looked at the ground, his steady pace breaking for a heartbeat. "It's nothing. It was nothing—it was just wishful thinking. Ignore me, ignore it." He looked so genuinely sad that Brightfur knew not to press him any further; instead she just nodded simply.

They didn't talk any further as they continued to run; Brightfur just assumed that Sunflight wanted some time to think. So did she.

But all of a sudden a black and white figure leapt out from behind a tree and yelled, "_Brightfur! Sunflight! You're back!_"

Sunflight was literally so startled he fell into a bush, and the silver she-cat had to stifle a laugh. "Hey, Drizzlestorm. What's up? I think you just scared your poor mate so much he's growing leaves on his head!"

Sunflight emerged from the bush with holly leaves dotting the top of his head. "Ha, ha, very funny."

Laughing, Drizzlestorm squealed, "I have the most _amazing_ news!"

"What? Don't leave us hanging!" Brightfur teased, running her tail across Drizzlestorm's back and waiting for the news.

It took the she-cat a while to catch her breath, but the next words she yowled were so loud Brightfur could have sworn it should have woken up the whole forest.

_"I'M EXPECTING KITS!"_


	41. Chapter Fourty: Sunflight

**I don't like the system that this site uses for updating but you guys are so awesome that I continue to do this.**

**Thanks for all of the support and feedback, all of you.**

**NOW, ON TO CHAPTER 40! HUZZAH!**

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Sunflight stood still, completely baffled. His mind had been completely blown; it took a moment for what his mate had said to sink in, and a _long_ moment too. But thankfully there must have been some sort of excitement in his pale blue eyes, because by the expression on Drizzlestorm's face, she had seen it.

"Drizzy, that's amazing!" Brightfur purred, leaping around her sister like a kit that had eaten too much catmint. "Brand-new, wonderful little warriors for FlameClan!" The silver she-cat seemed so excited it was hard not to catch some of her energy; it radiated off of her like the sun's heat.

Sunflight nodded, feeling overwhelmed by the rush of exhilaration sweeping throughout his entire body. He was going to have sons and daughters, beautiful little kits to grow up in MoonClan!

_Wait…_

Oh.

The golden tom didn't get a chance to correct his mistake, because the two she-cats were talking in such an excited matter as they bounced back to camp that he didn't get a say in. They seemed completely enveloped with this new, thrilling prospect of Drizzlestorm having kits, and Sunflight was somewhat glad of that, because even if he could say something, he didn't know what.

All happy chatter was ended, however, when a familiar brown shape leapt out in front of them, his fur on end, eyes narrowed, and claws unsheathed. "What's going on here?" he snapped as if something seriously wrong was happening.

Drizzlestorm blinked at her brother, surprised at first, but slowly, excitement dawned in her green eyes. "I'm expecting kits," she purred to him, wrapping her tail across Squirreltail's neck as she did so. "Isn't that just the most amazing thing ever?"

Sunflight winced. _Oh, Drizzlestorm! No, no, no!_

"_What?_" Squirreltail's violet eyes narrowed, and he dug his claws into the dirt with a sickening squishy sound. "_His_ kits?" The brown tom casually flicked his tail at Sunflight, who bared his teeth defensively.

The black-and-white she-cat didn't seem to think any of this was out of the ordinary. "Oh, yes! It's amazing, is it not?" She was so excited that she couldn't see her brother's obvious disgust in her choice. Why could she not see it?

Squirreltail didn't say anything for a while; just kept digging his claws in and out, in and out. Finally he spoke, and his voice was dripping with irritation so fierce Sunflight actually saw Brightfur recoil in complete and utter shock. "Who. Cares?"

Drizzlestorm started backwards. "Pardon?" she yelped, obviously not sure she had heard her brother correctly.

"I said, _who cares?_ They'll obviously be just a bunch of klutzy paws like _him._" The brown tom flicked his tail at the golden cat, who snarled, annoyance creeping through his body. How _dare_ Squirreltail speak to his own sister like that, especially when she was expecting her first litter of kits!

Brightfur looked shocked as well, and only Sunflight heard her whisper, "What's happened to you, Squirreltail?" under her breath.

Drizzlestorm's pine green eyes flared with hurt, and her tail drooped, along with her ears. "I—I thought you'd be happy for me," she whimpered, almost to the point where the golden tom couldn't hear her anymore.

"Happy?" Squirreltail's voice was so genuinely shocked that it was hard not to believe he was hurt by _her_ comment. "_Happy?_ Why would I ever be happy with the cat who stole my sister, let alone just another MoonClan Stoneyfoot! You've changed, Drizzlestorm! Remember when we were kits?" He rounded to face Brightfur, who looked shocked as she stumbled backwards. "_Remember when we all were kits?_ You really can't see that this cat is an enemy?"

The black-and-white she-cat flinched, whisking away from her brother's glare, looked down at the ground, and said nothing.

"Changed? How?" Sunflight found himself talking for the first time; he couldn't help it. He was so irritated he could screech and EarthClan would hear him. "To me, she's always been the same, kind, caring, understanding cat she was when we were _kits!_"

"Yeah, Squirreltail!" The silver she-cat jumped in, her green eyes ablaze in defense of her sister. "What's gotten into you? If you ask me, _you're_ the one who's changed, _not_ Drizzlestorm!"

The golden tom nodded in agreement, backing up the cat who had been so kind to him ever since he had joined this new, different Clan. "Yes, Squirreltail," he hissed. "What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing, that's what!" Squirreltail was now shaking visibly, his eyes so flared with anger he looked as if he had just seen his mother killed. "It's you two who've turned into mousebrains, not me! And you, Stoneyfoot, will never be a true FlameClan cat! So stop dreaming and go home, back o your cave and Clan of outcasts and evil! Just _go home!_"

Without another word the brown tom whipped around, anger and…was that possibly _hurt_ in his eyes?—and bolted into the warriors' den as fast as a rabbit with a cat on its tail.

Sunflight turned to comfort Drizzlestorm, lying his tail on her back and whispering in her ear, "It's okay, you haven't changed. He has." Brightfur just looked cold and angry, her claws now digging into the dirt also as she muttered under her breath.

An awkward silence passed for a few heartbeats, but that gave the golden tom just enough time to make up his mind. He sighed, knowing that Drizzlestorm wouldn't be happy with what he was about to say. "I…I suppose that I should go now."

"Go?" Drizzlestorm seemed snapped out of her trauma by his comment, and turned to face him, a fierce fire alighting in her eyes. "Go _where,_ exactly?"

"You two are probably the only ones who are…you know…my friends." Sunflight felt awkward saying this, but it was true, and they both knew it. However, his mate still pressed him onwards, trying desperately to do something, anything, to get him to stay.

"Now hold on a heartbeat!" she snapped, glaring at him with fierce pine green eyes that, if looks could kill, would have made Sunflight drop dead in seconds. "You're also friends with Oakscar and Gingermoon, and have won the respect of many of our Clan cats!"

"But I'm also hated by Darkstar and Squirreltail," the golden tom pointed out, irritation lacing his tone of voice now. He didn't want to argue with them. He just had to get his point over.

"Who cares?" Brightfur spoke for the first time, whipping around to face Sunflight for the first time. He was surprised by how anxious she seemed to have him stay—he would only have expected Drizzlestorm to truly feel like that. "You're not leaving, especially with Drizzlestorm like this."

Sunflight sighed in defeat, looking down at the ground. That had truly struck a nerve; he didn't want to abandon his pregnant mate. "Alright, you win."

The black and white she-cat purred with delight, bouncing around him like she was a kit hyped up on catmint. "Oh, wonderful! Shadowwhisker said the kits will be coming in about a moon, and I'm so excited!" she chirped.

Sunflight nodded in acknowledgement, purring but feeling slightly overwhelmed. He was going to be a _father._ To kits! Drizzlestorm's kits! It was so nerve-wracking…he had to think about something else. "Brightfur, do you forgive me for 'stealing' your sister?"

The silver she-cat blinked. "I was sad for a while, but seeing how happy she is…oh, I'm fine as long as she's happy."

"Come on, let's go tell Gingermoon the great news!" purred Drizzlestorm as she lead the two cats after her. For once, Sunflight truly felt accepted into his new Clan, purring as his mate leaned her head on his shoulder, though he was only thinking one thing inside, making his stomach feel like rot.

_Nothing can stay the same forever…_

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***wind dramatically blows through an empty forest***


	42. Chapter Fourty-One: Brightfur

**I actually haven't read this edited chapter yet in the moment I'm uploading this, so I have no idea what to get from you guys.**

**Let's just hope that its well-received as usual...**

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So, how many does Shadowwhisker say there'll be?"

"One or two," Drizzlestorm answered, flicking her long, feathery tail over Brightfur's muzzle, purring the entire time as her paws performed an entirely different action: batting a piece of moss over and over again.

For once they could talk all night without someone yelling at them to be quiet. The nursery, Drizzlestorm's new sleeping area, was alone except for them; Brightfur herself obviously wasn't expecting, but she had moved in to keep her friend company about a moon ago.

_I should have done this moons ago!_ the silver she-cat purred in her mind. _It's so quiet!_

"Isn't it nice in here?" The black and white cat echoed Brightfur's thoughts out loud. "I had forgotten how soft the bedding could be."

The silver warrior nodded. Ever since Drizzlestorm had announced she was expecting, cats had been bringing fresh, fluffy moss into the den, and it was certainly a lot nicer to roll around on than the thick bracken in the warriors' den.

The black-and-white cat tipped her head to one side, and Brightfur realized with a start she was waiting for a reply.

"Oh – oh! Yeah, me too! Being kits seems like such a long time ago!" the silver she-cat answered awkwardly, feeling her ears get hot. Drizzlestorm seemed not to notice.

"Do you remember all of the games we used to play? What about fire-moss-ball?" the black and white cat asked curiously, snickering under her breath at unvoiced memories.

Brightfur nodded in earnest, a large grin creeping across her face as well. "How is it even _possible_ for me to forget?"

"Do you remember how Squirreltail would always cheat?" Drizzlestorm asked, totally into it now. "How he would take the ball and hide it, and laugh at us when we could never seem to figure out where it was…" Her voice trailed off, and the last few words she had spoken had taken a melancholy tone. Brightfur looked at her, concerned. Depression was the last thing the pregnant she-cat needed.

"Drizzy," she murmured softly. "It'll be okay…it'll all be okay…"

"But why has Squirreltail changed?" The she-cat was letting out whimpers now. "Why can't he just be the fun loving cat he was when we were kits? What's holding him back from doing that?"

"I don't know," Brightfur whispered, running her paw along Drizzlestorm's back. "I don't know…"

The pregnant cat sniffled into her paws. "I miss him," she whimpered.

Brightfur sighed, and turned away, so that Drizzlestorm couldn't see the sorrow in her green eyes. "I know. I know you do."

_You're not the only one._

*

That night, Brightfur dreamed.

In a place that was cold and dark and smelled of mist and fog, five kits played.

One, a silvery tom with bright green eyes the color of fresh grass was playing tag with a black she-kit, whose amber eyes were alight with pure pleasure. Another was an incredibly small brown she-kit with pale blue eyes, like frost on a snowy day, lying down and talking easily with a grey-and-white she-kit, whose green eyes were unlike the tom's in the fact that they were dark green, like a forest.

The final kit was a tortoiseshell kit with beautiful amber eyes that shone like the sun – one could say brighter, even. She glared at the others, playing in the clearing without a care in the world. Her brother and sister might not understand, but she did. The new kits were fire-pelts.

_FlameClan._

Yes, they were allies. Yes, they should have been friends. But the tortoiseshell didn't like it when new cats came and took her siblings away from her. She curled her lips in a snarl. These newcomers wouldn't invade _her_ home and take over _her_ life. She had to do _something._

In a burst of inspiration, she yowled loudly, "Willowkit, Aspenkit! Can you come over here for a second?" Her voice was sickly sweet, like honey, and dripping with fake compassion.

The black kit and the grey-and-white kit looked up in surprise. "Coming, Songkit!" Aspenkit yowled.

When they had reached her on the other side of the clearing, Songkit smiled at them with an eerie look in her amber eyes. The two kits smiled back, not quite knowing what they were getting into.

No one spoke for a few heartbeats, and Willowkit began to shuffle her paws nervously. "Uh, Songkit? Why did you call u—"

"You're alone here, you know."

The grey-and-white kit blinked in surprise, looking at Songkit, who had just spoken the malicious words. "Wha—?"

"You're not real MistClan cats. You don't deserve to be anywhere _near_ my brother and sister." Songkit's tiny pinpricks of claws slid in and out, in and out as she said these words.

"Songkit! You know in a couple of moons we'll leave—it's no big deal," Aspenkit protested, the black she-kit stepping protectively in front of her more timid sister—but not fast enough. The tortoiseshell had already darted past, claws unsheathed.

Approximately two heartbeats later blood was dripping from under Willowkit's right eye. She blinked once, and then twice, panic rising inside of her throat.

"Songkit! Why would you do this?" Aspenkit wailed.

The tortoiseshell kit didn't reply, licking the blood off of her claws and lunging at Aspenkit, her next target. They met in a bundle of black and tortoiseshell fur, spiked by claws, and overseen by a screaming Willowkit. Why was no cat in the camp coming to help them? Couldn't they see the dilemma?

Finally the two battling kits rolled over, hissing, and then Songkit pulled away, blood matting up her pelt—except it wasn't her own.

Aspenkit yowled in pain and slumped to the ground, her muzzle still dripping scarlet beads of blood. Willowkit yelped and rushed to her sister's side.

"You monster!" she screamed at Songkit. "Y-you're a terrible monster! You'll go to the Dark Forest one day!"

The other shrugged, and merely smirked. "It's not my fault," she answered coolly. "I just need you all to realize you'll always be alone in the fog."

_Alone…_

Alone…

Alone in the fog…

Brightfur awoke, her green eyes lit with pure terror.

*

Drizzlestorm was still sleeping after Brightfur woke up, and appeared to be resting peacefully. The silver she-cat decided not to disturb her, and went about her own business, tidying up the den, when all of a sudden the pregnant cat began to screech loudly and twist from side to side.

Brightfur yelped and ran over to her. "Drizzy? Are you okay?"

"C-c-coming," was the stuttered reply. "S-s-she's c-c-coming!"

"Oh my gosh," the silver she-cat whispered, and then louder. "_Oh my GOSH!_"

Brightfur flung herself outside the nursery, and, too panicked to move any further, screamed as loud as she could. "_SHADOWWHISKER! ANYONE! DRIZZLESTORM'S KITS ARE COMING!"_

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**Ends on cliffhanger. Our editor sure likes to do that...**

**We are so evil. :3**


	43. Chapter Fourty-Two: The Kitting

**SO sorry for the ludicrous delay! This chapter had to be pieced together so perfectly that it was like performing heart surgery in some parts!**

**So far, this chapter is ****_definitely _****my favorite. Hope you awesome fans like it as much as I do!**

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Sunflight heard the yowl first.

It didn't process right away; he had been lying in his bed of moss dreaming about MoonClan, and just how much he missed it all: Foxstar, his foster father, Mosspool, his foster mother, Waterfrost, his best friend…who he no longer even thought of as a sister, more as a tight companion. Her soft ginger-and-white fur pressing against his when they were just apprentices…how could he have left all that behind?

It was for Drizzlestorm.

It was all for Drizzlestorm.

In the end, it all seemed well…but slowly he had begun to feel the way Drizzlestorm had back at MoonClan.

Homesick, depressed.

Even alone.

An outcast.

He remembered slamming his paws against the rock pillars with Waterpaw, Pinecloud and Voleclaw, completing his initiation into the Clan. That had been interrupted by a certain black-and-white she-cat who had stolen his thoughts for the remainder of the day. Only StarClan knows what would've happened if he didn't stray from camp that morning…

The fateful morning when he met Driz…  
Had flipped his entire world upside down.

Sunflight rolled over, feeling the cool moss press into his golden fur, and sighed. That very first time he had met her, when they were just kits, he had felt an instant connection. Like they could both understand how vast the world is; how large but yet so small. But now…now… how would things have changed if he had never met her?

Who would he be? A warrior of MoonClan, following his leader's orders, fighting in battles against MistClan and FlameClan, going to Gatherings with no clue as to who the strange cats that smelled of smoke were except by appearance and name…

…would he have had a mate?

Quickly Sunflight shook the thought out of his head and, boredom pulsing throughout his mind, slowly began to bat at a piece of moss at the edge of his nest. As it came loose, the golden tom easily patted it back and forth between his paws, finally stabbing it with one claw and poking it back into his nest.

That was about when the scream came; the scream that made him jolt upright, blue eyes flashing with horror, jaws open in a terrified yelp. It was clearly Brightfur's voice, and the pure panic that was expressed in it told Sunflight everything was going wrong; nothing was going right.

"_DRIZZLESTORM'S KITS ARE COMING!_"

Brightfur didn't know what to do.

One of her best friends was thrashing around on her nest, letting out loud screams that shook her very heart. Drizzlestorm's eyes were still open, pupils shrunken in full-fledged fear and pain. It didn't seem like she was making any words one could understand, just garbled screeches. Black and white fur rumpled; eyes wide and panicked, and there was nothing Brightfur could do.

_Think. Think, Brightfur! You've got to _think_!_

The silver she-cat tried to block out all noise, panic bubbling up in her throat. She had never seen a cat giving birth before… Shadowwhisker had to be coming soon…someone must have heard her scream and was coming…

What did she know about giving birth?

All time seemed to stand still as Brightfur's eyes went wide, pupils shrinking just as much as Drizzlestorm's had.

There was only one cat who she had seen give birth in her lifetime.

And that was Ebonyflight.

_No…no no no no no! Drizzlestorm can't end up like Ebonyflight…no, she just can't! It's impossible…she's too loved in FlameClan! She has too much left to do, so much of her life left! No, no no no no no!_

The silver she-cat sprinted to her best friend's side, placing one paw on Drizzlestorm's stomach gently to stop her from thrashing. The garbled screeches stopped for a heartbeat as the black-and-white cat stared up, confused, at Brightfur's gaze. Their eyes locked.

_Stop struggling,_ Brightfur willed Drizzlestorm to hear with her mind, just like that day when they were made warriors…that fateful day when one of them had left FlameClan, seemingly forever. _It'll be okay. Sunflight's coming…so is Shadowwhisker._ Purring nervously, she began to slowly groom behind the nervous queen's ears. "It'll be okay," she whispered, voice shaking slightly.

"Bright…fur…" Drizzlestorm panted, green eyes pleading, flinching every few heartbeats as a spasm ripped through her body. "Bright…fur, it hurts…so much…"

"It'll be okay," Brightfur continued to murmur, groomed her friend again. "Don't worry…it'll all be okay…"

_It has to be okay…_

…right?

Sunflight had never been to the medicine cat den in FlameClan, but he knew it was the only place to go right now. Who knew if Shadowwhisker had heard the frantic call? Who knew when she would come if he didn't prompt her? He needed to get there, _now._

His golden paws pushed up rocks behind him as he tore across the camp, blue eyes rapidly scanning the area for the licking flames surrounding a den made of woven brambles that Drizzlestorm had shown him was the medicine cat den. For a heartbeat he skipped over it; panicking, Sunflight looked again and, this time, pinpointed his target, and wheeled around, sprinting at top speed toward the den.

With a tremendous leap, the golden tom pushed off of the ground and flew through the flames, hardly noticing as they tickled his ears and pelt. Though his eyes had been closed while jumping, Sunflight quickly snapped them open again to see Shadowwhisker anxiously gathering a pile of small, mint-green leaves.

"Drizzle…storm…" he panted quickly, too caught up in his own worries to see the exasperated look the black she-cat was giving him.

"You think I didn't hear?" Shadowwhisker snapped; upon seeing Sunflight's taken-back expression she looked away and sighed. "I'm sorry…but please, we have to get there in time." Her green eyes flashed for a heartbeat with something more than just pure panic, but almost like full-blown fear. "Take these, they're raspberry leaves," She nosed the bundle of leaves towards the golden tom quickly. "They'll help ease the kitting."

Sunflight took them in his jaws – they were slightly bitter, but also with a sort of sweet aftertaste that made him able to bear them – and sprang out of the den, the black she-cat right on his heels as they pounded toward the nursery.

"Drizzy..." Shadowwhisker murmured as she ran, looking at Sunflight mournfully. "She's always been such a sweet, caring kit…I have to save her. Her conditions never did look good…and she's so young…" Her tail drooped, and she closed her eyes, a sad wail coming into her tone now. "I can't lose her like I did Ebonyflight! Darkstar…what'll he think of me then? He'll think I'm not fit to be medicine cat, after losing two perfectly healthy young queens!"

This sudden revelation shocked the golden tabby more than he could say – not that he could say anything at the time, with his jaws full of bitter herbs. Shadowwhisker was much older than he, and he had never really spoken to her…but she wasn't as terse and distant as he had first thought.

_Every cat has a soft side…even Squirreltail. His sister is his ultimate hubris, and I just happen to be the one that got in the way._

Sunflight glanced over at the now sniffling medicine cat and nodded at her gravely, but with a small hint of a smile in his blue eyes, as if to say _It's okay. Don't worry. Everything will be okay._

Shadowwhisker smiled back, but her eyes reflected something entirely different.

Pure and utter fear.

And Sunflight had to wonder how much of his comforting was for Shadowwhisker, or just for himself. Because it was going to be okay…

_Wasn't it?_

Another spasm shook through Drizzlestorm's body; she quickly let out another heart-shattering wail that made Brightfur cringe, though she tried not to show it. When would the others arrive? What was taking them so long? She couldn't just leave the kitting queen here, though…

A blast of fire erupted from the entrance as Shadowwhisker and Sunflight barreled in, the golden tom's fur on end and the medicine cat looking as if she had just been wallowing in pity – though for herself, Drizzlestorm, or Sunflight Brightfur couldn't tell. The golden tom's jaws were filled to the brim with herbs, which he spat in front of Shadowwhisker as quickly as he had raced in.

"Do your stuff!" he urged, blue eyes completely conveying his fear. "Please, Shadowwhisker…you have to save her!"

No one had to tell the black medicine cat twice. Brightfur looked up anxiously at the she-cat who now held the fate of Drizzlestorm in her paws. _It has to be a stressful job…I've not really ever talked to Shadowwhisker that much, but she's always seemed distant, with her head in the clouds. I know she's Whitescar's sister, but even he's never told me much about her…_

How terrible it must feel to let a cat's life slip through your paws as easy as river water, or sand.

Brightfur's green eyes connected with Sunflight's; without even realizing what she was doing, she leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder, in a comforting fashion. It felt natural, like she had done it before, though she couldn't quite remember where.

"She'll be okay," the tom murmured under his breath, seemingly trying to convince himself as much as Brightfur.

"I know…" the she-cat whispered back, watching as Shadowwhisker tried to get the chewed up leaves down Drizzlestorm's throat. "I know…"

Sunflight let out a forced choke as another scream echoed through the air. "It's just…ever since Ebonyflight, and then when I found out she was expecting…" He looked away, tail drooping.

"You think you're the only cat who feels that way?" Brightfur straightened up and looked him straight in the eyes. "Ebonyflight was my mentor. She was the cat who found me; the cat who named me. I loved her as an older sister I never got to have. And then she died while giving kits…"

Pain was bubbling up into her throat now, but she couldn't stop talking. Continuing on, Brightfur blubbered, "I miss her so much! She always was so nice to me…was always cheerful, even when I didn't catch the mouse or do the right battle move…even once I became a warrior she was so supportive and wonderful…" Sniffling into his shoulder now, she murmured softly, "I miss her so much, Sunflight. And I don't want the same thing to happen to Drizzlestorm that happened to her."

The golden tom said nothing, eyes on the silver cat that was now sobbing into his fur, though it wasn't a disdainful, stuck up look, but a look of pure compassion.

"I know," he whispered softly, eyes distant and pained. "I know."

Brightfur said nothing, but continued to sob.

_I know._

He did know. He knew more than she thought.

Brightfur missed her mentor. She missed the cat who was kind to her, who was always fun and funny to hang around, who could comfort her when she was sad and relate to all of her troubles. Sunflight could understand that.

He felt the exact same way, every single moment.

_"Sunflight!"_

It was one of the rare moments when Drizzlestorm was sleeping in the warrior's den, her black-and-white tail curled up over her nose as she gently drifted off to sleep. Sunflight hadn't been tired, and had been eating a small turtle when he heard the call. His head lifted slightly, and he turned it to one side. "Yeah?"

A heartbeat later he was bowled over by a maniacally giggling ginger-and-white flash. Yelping in surprise, Sunflight batted at his attacker's ears, but laid off when he realized that it was only Waterfrost, who was now laughing hysterically and rolling in the dirt.

"You – should – have – seen – the – look – on –your –face!" the she-cat snickered, rolling over and thumping her paws against the ground again. "P-priceless!"

"Waterfrost!" Sunflight leapt atop her, going nose-to-nose as he glared accusingly at her teasing blue eyes. "That wasn't funny! You really scared me!"

"P-priceless!" The ginger-and-white she-cat continued to laugh.

Sunflight felt a playful growl rise up in his throat. "You want to play that way, huh?" Cuffing her teasingly behind the ears, he enveloped his attention in play-fighting with his best friend, just the way they had when they were kits. He could let all of his troubles sink away.

He could forget Drizzlestorm…

But did he really want to?

That was a question he could not answer.

A loud scream, louder than any of the rest, broke into his thoughts. Shadowwhisker grit her teeth, closed her eyes, and passed the kitting queen a willow branch to bite on – weak, but it was the only thing around. Brightfur closed her eyes and buried her face in Sunflight's fur, while he looked down at the ground, waiting…waiting…waiting…

_I miss her so much! She always was so nice to me…was always cheerful, even when I didn't catch the mouse or do the right battle move…even once I became a warrior she was so supportive and wonderful…" Sniffling into his shoulder now, she murmured softly, "I miss her so much, Sunflight. And I don't want the same thing to happen to Drizzlestorm that happened to her,_ Brightfur had whispered about her dead mentor.

_I know,_ he had replied solemnly. _I know._

And that was when a loud cry split the air.

It wasn't the cry of a full-grown cat, or even an apprentice. It was a younger, softer sound…the sound of a kit.

Sunflight couldn't believe it. He whipped around, dislodging stones from the nursery floor, and for a heart-shattering moment he saw Drizzlestorm, lying limp on the floor, unmoving. But then her black-and-white tail gave the tiniest twitch, and the tom forced out a nervous smile. _She's okay..she's OKAY!_

But there was another figure next to her too…a tiny figure, with a bright golden pelt just like his own, who was nuzzling Drizzlestorm's stomach and squeaking. Sunflight felt like his heart was going to explode just watching her.

"Is that…?" Brightfur gasped, awe showing visibly in her eyes.

"Yes," Shadowwhisker smiled easily now, without any hint of stress remaining in her eyes. "She only had one kit – a lovely little she-kit. But the kit looks healthy, and Drizzlestorm is okay. Everything's fine." The black medicine-cat sighed in relief and murmured again, "Just fine."

"Hey, Sunflight?" rasped a soft, tentative voice. The tom leaned over to see Drizzlestorm's bright green eyes blinking up at him. "C…can I name her?"

"Sure," he agreed, curling up next to his mate to admire his brand-new daughter. She was really a tiny thing, but looked as if she had a lot of life bubbling inside of her. As he watched, she seemed to sense the new presence, squeaked at him nervously, and then continued to suckle from her mother.

Drizzlestorm lifted her head weakly and gazed at their golden daughter; when she saw the pelt color she smiled. "Sunnykit," she whispered, resting her head on Sunflight's paw. "Her name will be Sunnykit."

"Sunnykit," Sunflight replied, feeling like his heart was going to burst with pride. Brightfur stood beside him, watching with excitement in her gaze as the mates interacted with their new kit. "Sunnykit is a perfect name." For the kit really was like a little ray of sunshine – though so young, she had a vibrant golden pelt that could be the sun.

For the first time that day that he actually meant it, Sunflight mewed quietly, "Everything's going to be just fine."

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**Heh heh... For the first time ever instead of Drizzle117 this was edited by your's truly...**

**Did I do a good job? We'll be going back to Driz soon because she has more time, but still...**

**Leave what you thought of my editing job or your thoughts on this chapter in a review, please!**

**You don't ****_need _****to, but we're both VERY anxious to see your guys' opinions this time around...**


	44. Chapter Fourty-Three: Brightfur

**Oh hai dere! Just another update!**

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Brightfur couldn't express in words just how happy she was.

Drizzlestorm was okay…her best friend was _okay!_ For a few heartbeats it seemed like everything was lost…the world would shatter to pieces around her, dispersing across the dirt so that anywhere she stepped she would feel the world sting her paw…but no, no! That didn't happen! It was okay!

Shadowwhisker had insisted she leave the den so that Sunflight and Drizzlestorm could spend some time with their new kit, so the silver she-cat had obliged without a doubt. She was too giddy to care about leaving them alone.

Sunlight sparkled through the roof of the camp, causing many cats to stop and look up at its beautiful rays gently petting the earth. Several raised their heads and purred, trying to get a better angle of the warm light.

Brightfur joined them, feeling her throat rumble happily as she soaked in the warmth. Eagletalon looked at her with curiosity glinting in his eyes. "What's got you so excited?" he rumbled.

"Oh, Eagletalon!" The silver she-cat shivered in delight. "Drizzlestorm's had her kits!"

He flicked an ear and grinned. "Knew it had to be soon…how many, tom or she-kit, name?"

Smiling, Brightfur answered each question quickly and proficiently. "One, she-kit, Sunnykit."

Eagletalon turned to look toward the nursery, where soft chides of happy murmuring were echoing. "I'm guessing she looks like her father, then?"

The silver warrior nodded, a wide smile still plastered across her face. "I was there when it happened…it was so scary, but it ended up being so, so wonderful!" A purr echoed in her throat, and Brightfur couldn't contain it – she let out a little squeal like a kit, making Eagletalon chuckle.

"So…seeing newborn kits really is that wonderful?" His gaze swept her glistening silver fur, a hint of longing in his tone that Brightfur couldn't quite pick up on.

She grinned. "Yeah! Sunnykit is so adorable…so cute and fluffy, even though she's newborn!" A glazed look of happiness filled her green eyes. "Drizzlestorm is soooooo lucky."

"You'd…you'd like to be a mother?" the brown tabby asked, a hint of a stutter in his voice. This time Brightfur picked up on it; she blinked and looked at him strangely. He seemed nervous; his ears were lowered and paws anxiously poking at the ground.

"Well, if I'd get to have nice kits like Sunnykit…maybe," she mewed quietly, suddenly uneasy. What was it that was making her feel this way? Why was there suddenly tension?

Eagletalon took a deep breath and turned to face her, eyes dead serious. "Brightfur, there's something I've been meaning to tell you—"

"Brightfur!"

Snapping her head towards the sudden call that had just reverberated across the clearing, the silver she-cat leapt to her paws to see the ebony form of her leader standing on the Fire Rock. "Yes, Darkstar?" she called, not noticing a heartbroken expression upon Eagletalon's face.

The black tomcat leapt off of his perch and, in three quick strides, bounded over to where the two cats sat blinking in the sunlight. It seemed to emphasize his unusual silver pupils even more. "May I speak with you?"

Nervously glancing back at Eagletalon, who had an equally worried expression on his face, Brightfur meowed, almost inaudible, "Sure, I guess."

As she and Darkstar padded towards the Fire Rock, Eagletalon stretched out his paw, as if he needed her back to finish explaining what he was going to say. Quickly he bit his lip and looked away, hurt flaring in his eyes.

***

"…she's fine, now?" the ebony tom asked, pacing back and forth in front of Brightfur, who nodded rapidly, green eyes almost desperate as she explained what had happened to her friend.

"She seemed to be in a lot of pain for a while, but then she went back to normal…Sunnykit is very beautiful, and looks a lot like Drizzlestorm with Sunflight's coloring."

Darkstar's silver eyes seemed to gaze into nothingness. "I see."

He said nothing more for a few heartbeats, making Brightfur feel quite uncomfortable, especially since she was still wondering about what Eagletalon had meant to tell her.

Finally she broke the silence. "Can I go back out to the camp now? There's someone I need to talk to…"

"Sunflight?" A pained expression tore across Darkstar's face. "His paw…it's so black…like…" Here he murmured something Brightfur was unable to make out, coughed, and then continued. "Anyway, that's not why I called you here."

The silver she-cat looked at him curiously, waiting.

Darkstar looked down at the ground. "…do you think Sunflight is settling okay into FlameClan? Was it the right idea to let him join, or should we have sent him back to where he came from?"

Brightfur was dumbfounded. Her leader had always been so quiet, so kept-to-himself. But now he was opening up in her, of all cats? The scrawny little runt that he had never seemed to trust. "Um…well, as long as he's with Drizzlestorm, I hope he'll be happy."

Her leader stared at her for a few more seconds and then bowed his head. "Very well." Silver eyes seemingly piercing her soul, he meowed, "Now you may leave."

More than happy to do just that, Brightfur turned tail and sprinted out of the den.

***

Eagletalon was waiting for her. He had picked out a nice juicy adder in the fresh kill pile and was silently eating it, though when he saw her approaching, his eyes lit up and he got to his paws. "Brightfur, you're back!"

She nodded, smiling, green eyes slightly wary. "Yeah…yeah, I'm back." Settling down next to him, she looked at him inquisitively. "So…what were you going to tell me?"

The brown tabby looked down, ears lowering. "Oh…yes, well…I think it's about time you know…"

"Hello, you two! Do you mind if I sit here also?"

Both Brightfur and Eagletalon looked up to see a small ginger-and-white she-cat smiling at them, green eyes pleased. The tom looked down at the ground, teeth grit, but the silver cat grinned. "Of course, Flowerbreeze! Here, try some of this adder – it's delicious!"

The new addition sat, delicately taking a bite of the prey and grinning with a mouthful of snake. "This is good," Flowerbreeze commented, taking another large mouthful. "Now…did I interrupt anything?"

"No, no you didn't," Eagletalon snapped, his tone hardened. "Stay here all you want."

The ginger-and-white cat blinked at him, confusion reflecting in her eyes. "Is everything alright?"

Eagletalon put on a large smile. "Yep, everything's fine! Just fine! Heh heh!"

Flowerbreeze looked confused again, but shrugged and smiled. "Anyways, is Drizzlestorm doing okay after her kitting? I know it must have been very stressful…"

"Oh, it was," Brightfur announced, a little irritated at having to tell the story again, but she did so with ease. Flowerbreeze was a very good listener, gasping at all of the right parts and smiling at the most heartwarming scenes. The whole time Eagletalon picked at his adder and looked very grumpy indeed, whiskers twitching every once in a while.

"…so her name is Sunnykit, and she's simply precious!" the silver she-cat finished. Flowerbreeze grinned, smiling so wide she looked like she could be a kit herself.

"She must be adorable; I can't wait to see her," the ginger and white cat chirped, bright green eyes glazing over happily as she pictured Drizzlestorm's new daughter. Brightfur laughed at her friend's moony expression.

All of a sudden Maplestep called to her daughter from across the camp, "Flowerbreeze! Want to come on a border patrol with Berryfrost and I?"

Flowerbreeze's eyes lit up at the thought of patrolling with her old mentor. "Okay! Bye, Eagletalon! Bye, Brightfur!"

Meowing a happy goodbye, the ginger and white cat darted forward—

—and was instantly bumped by an irritated dusty brown tom with angry violet eyes. Flowerbreeze blinked in surprise, turning to face him. "Hey, that wasn't nice!" she snapped, using her tail to dust the dirt off of her coat.

"Oh, _sor-ry,_" Squirreltail snapped, not sounding sorry whatsoever. "Now, will you please get out of my way? I have to go talk to my sister." Not even waiting for an answer, he leapt over Flowerbreeze and stalked toward the nursery.

Brightfur gasped; the brown tom's hatred of Sunflight was widely known. What might he do to poor Sunnykit. "SQUIRRELTAIL!" she yelped, diving towards him, intent on getting in his way.

Behind her, Eagletalon sighed, looking down at his paws, and murmured something angrily that couldn't be made out.

The silver she-cat reached her foster brother in a matter of steps; quickly she darted in front of him. "What are you _doing?_"

"Congratulating my sister; what does it look like?" Squirreltail hissed, trying to dart past her. But Brightfur stood her ground and bared her teeth, revealing pointy white fangs.

"You are _not_ going to upset her so soon after she's kitted!"

"Who said I was going to upset her?" the dusty brown tom snapped.

"Every cat knows you hate Sunflight, so why wouldn't you hurt his daughter?" Brightfur shot back, leaning forward slightly to go nose-to-nose with Squirreltail. This, however, was a bad idea, as he shot past her like a brown hare and stood outside the nursery.

"I can do what I like with my sister – _and_ her kit," he snapped, teeth bared. Before Brightfur could do anything about it, Squirreltail had whipped around and disappeared into the nursery, head held high.

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**Glad that we could write this out so quickly for you guys!**


	45. Chapter Fourty-Four: Sunflight

**At last, here's chapter 44!**

***Oh and here's an important piece of news! ****My co-author, Drizzle117, is going on an internet fast until June 1st as of today May 12th. Due to this, there is going to be guaranteed NO updates.** **She's doing so for p****ersonal reasons, but we PROMISE we'll be right back on it when her goal is reached.**

**Just a heads-up.**

* * *

Sunflight just couldn't believe it. He was now a _father_, just like his old mentor Pinecloud! The thought stung his insides like bees, but he had to face facts, just like he had to face his old life. It couldn't simply vanish.

... How he wished it could vanish…

The golden tom looked upon his mate with pride. Drizzlestorm still looked exhausted from her painful ordeal, but she was strong, and she would carry on. Slowly she groomed their new daughter – his _beautiful_ daughter – behind her tiny ears, rubbing her fur the wrong way to make her warm.

"She looks like you," the black and white queen murmured in-between licks, eyes glowing softly.

"She has your body form," Sunflight commented, getting nose-to-nose with little Sunnykit, who looked confused at the large cat now in front of her. The kit turned her head to one side and let out a tiny 'meep,' causing both her her mother and father to laugh.

Black-furred Shadowwhisker stuck her head inside the of the warm den. The medicine cat had declared the kit healthy and had left respectively to let the parents have some time with their new kit. Sunflight, finding the kit oddly small to what he was used to at MoonClan, wondered why she was coming back.

"Hello, Shadowwhisker," Sunflight mewed, getting to his big paws. "Come in?"

"Actually, I have a question from the cats of FlameClan," the black she-cat mewed, her gaze sweeping Drizzlestorm and Sunnykit before meeting Sunflight's again. "Is Drizzlestorm here okay with visitors?"

The golden tom looked back at his tired mate, who smiled him wearily.

"Yes, I'm fine. Shadowwhisker, tell them it's fine for them to come in– one at a time, though, _please_." she croaked. Sunflight nodded protectively– he agreed with this, as it wasn't a good idea to overwhelm Sunnykit right away.

The medicine cat nodded, eyes seeming to glint like stars. The golden tom realized that she was still feeling victorious about saving Drizzlestorm.

_It had been so close… She was scared, I was scared, Brightfur was scared… We were all scared._

_What if...? _Sunflight shuddered.

_I need to get these thoughts out of my head._

The first visitor was a familiar dusty brown tom with a twinkling gaze as he looked Sunnykit over. "Hello, Drizzlestorm, Sunflight. Who is this little sweetie?"

"Hi, Oakscar!" Sunflight purred at seeing his friend. "This is Sunnykit."

Oakscar looked up, eyes merry. "Named after you, I suppose?"

Feeling his ears get hot, Sunflight looked down and Drizzlestorm answered, still in a wheezing sort of voice, "I chose the name because she's as bright as the sun! Doesn't she look just like her father?" The black-and-white she-cat was clearly bursting with pride.

Oakscar nodded, pressing his nose to Sunnykit's. "You two have my gratitude that everything turned out alright," the dusty brown warrior murmured softly. Sunflight could hear the sorrow in his voice as clearly as birdsong at dawn.

Sunflight laughed slightly and smiled, though his mind echoed with the thoughts of,_ Yes, we were lucky. Luckier than any cat could have dreamed._

Oakscar didn't know just how close his words were to the truth.

_Are near-death kittings common? _Sunflight asked himself worriedly, _If so, then why are there so many queens?_

_... Did Frostbreeze go through all of that when _we _were born?_

Snapping out of his own thoughts, the three adult cats made pleasant conversation for a while longer, talking of things such as prey and boundaries and schemes created by other Clans, when Shadowwhisker stuck her head in yet again.

"Oakscar, you're needed for a patrol." The medicine cat looked outside again and let out a low purr of amusement. "And judging by the way Brightfur and Squirreltail are arguing, it looks like they both want to get in here next!"

Squirreltail _is coming?_ Sunflight would be happy to see Brightfur instead, but right now he didn't feel like he needed to see Drizzlestorm's hateful brother. Something bad would happen if he came in the den– he just knew it.

Drizzlestorm seemed to know it, too, by the way she abruptly kept her eyes on Sunnykit like she'd turned into a snake.

The older black and white cat, however, seemed happy that her brother and adoptive sister were coming to visit; she grinned. "Whichever one comes in first, they're welco—"

There was an explosion of dusty brown fur and a flash of bright indigo eyes and Sunflight was slammed against the ground as if all of StarClan had pushed him into the floor. Hot breath blew against his throat, and an angry voice echoed throughout the air. The weight of the light brown paws were dangerously close to his soft, fleshy belly.

"Sunnykit?" Squirreltail snarled. "_Sunnykit_? What kind of selfish cat names their own daughter after them?" The brown tom planted a firm paw on Sunflight's neck, claws not unsheathed, but dangerously close.

"It wasn't me! It wasn't me!" the golden tom sputtered, ice blue eyes wide, squirming to get him venerable stomach on the floor. Drizzlestorm curled around her newborn kit, green eyes closed tight. It was all she could do- she seemed too exhausted to stand after Sunnykit was born.

"Yeah, right," Squirreltail hissed, leaning in closer as if to deliver a bite.

"No, really!" Sunflight pleaded, eyes starting to bulge. "Please, please let me go!"

Drizzlestorm opened her mouth, but was cut over.

"Oh, look!" The brown tom looked up, eyes glinting with a horrid sort of pride. "The great Stoney-Foot surrenders!" He let out a horrible, forced laugh. "Isn't that funny? Ha. Ha. _Ha_."

The taunting was only making Sunflight struggle harder, but it was no use. Squirreltail was simply too strong, and if Sunflight unsheathed his claws to fight him, none of FlameClan would trust him anymore. He would be exiled.

And maybe even Sunnykit, too.

"Everything okay in there, you three?" the voice of Shadowwhisker echoed from outside the den.

Before Sunflight could yell, his mouth was covered by Squirreltail's paw. "Everything's fine!" the dusty brown tom yelled, cheerfulness lacing his voice like honey, unsheathing his claws slightly as he did. Sunflight's eyes went wide.

Small patches of red began to bloom on his sun-yellow chest.

_I'm dead! Squirreltail is way too strong!_

Preparing himself for death, he hopelessly turned to his horrified mate. She had an equal look of terror on her face. Sunnykit was tucked tightly under her chest. Her eyes wandered up to her brother. They were narrowed into thin slits.

_I'll see you soon, Blossomkit..._ he mewed silently, hoping that Drizzlestorm would be enough to hold off Squirreltail.

And all of a sudden, like a savior from StarClan, there was a screech from the cat who had been quiet this whole time. It was almost like Blossomkit herself had heard him.

"_ENOUGH!_"

Drizzlestorm hadn't gotten up, so that Sunnykit could be as safe as she could manage, but her green eyes were blazing with both fury and a bit of shock. The word was so strong Squirreltail actually took a step off of Sunflight, staring at his sister in disbelief.

"Leave Sunflight _alone_!" she hissed, eyes looking as if they could kill Squirreltail with one glance. "It was _my_ choice to name _our_ daughter, Sunnykit! Not his! And it wasn't his fault that I left to go to MoonClan! He didn't 'steal' me! It was all MY choice! I haven't changed, Squirreltail!" Drizzlestorm's last sentence hung like a dangling end, "… _Y__ou_ have."

Squirreltail stared at her, obviously speechless. His mouth hung open like his jaw was somewhat broken. "But Drizzlestorm-"

"No! I _don't want to hear it_!" his sister mewed shakily, looking away. She looked crestfallen and shaken terribly. Sunflight couldn't bear it. Staggering to his paws, he met Squirreltail's lavender gaze.

"_Leave._" he growled.

"If that's what you want, Stoney-Foo—"

"_WHAT DID I_ JUST _SAY!_?" Drizzlestorm roared in a voice like thunder.

"I heard you, I heard you!" Squirreltail mewed. "Just make sure that _Stoney_kit here doesn't mess up her life like her mother did." With a last huff, the brown warrior trotted out of the den. Drizzlestorm stared after him, her green eyes last comment had clearly stung her heart like an adder's bite.

"Don't listen to him," Sunflight grumbled. "He's just trying to make us have a hard time." With a few quick licks to his bloodied chest fur, he pressed against his mate.

_Squirreltail could have killed Sunnykit and I today, in the middle of the camp, if Drizzlestorm wasn't here. How far will he go next time?_

Sunnykit gave a frightened squeak.

_Would he go as far as to murder all three of us?_

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**Took me half an hour to edit this, but still...  
**

**Dun Dun DUNNNNNN!**

**(Sorry- couldn't resist!)**


	46. Chapter Fourty-Five: Brightfur

**After forever, we bring you Chapter 45!  
**

**Sorry, because school's not our friend near the end, we couldn't get this out very fast. Hope you all understand.**

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_The tortoiseshell she-cat darted into the camp, panting, eyes wide with faux surprise. Her pink tongue lolled out of her mouth as she skidded to a halt and struggled to take a breath. Two younger cats stood behind her, one grey and white, the other black, both with visible wounds and scarlet blood splotched upon their faces._

_"Songpaw!" a light brown she-cat shrieked, darting to her daughter's side like a cat to a mouse. "What happened to Aspenkit and Willowkit?" Wolfecho nuzzled each kit in turn as she said their names._

_"I… tried to stop them… but they wouldn't listen… they snuck… out of camp… and... _EarthClan_ found them!" the tortoiseshell panted, staggering. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, the cats around her leaning in, waiting to hear the rest of the story. "They… started attacking the kits – the _innocent_ kits!"_

_Gasps bounded around the clearing; cats stared at the two kits. Aspenkit hissed, showing sharp teeth, while Willowkit cowered, looking nervously at the ground and not moving._

_Songpaw continued, claws digging into the dirt. "I fought them off, but it was hard."_

_"How hard?" a young MistClan apprentice gasped, leaning forward._

_In reply, the tortoiseshell apprentice turned to reveal a scar across her right shoulder, still oozing blood. "Very."_

_"What's going on here?"_

_Every cat turned and stared as a large, regal tortoiseshell stalked towards the crowd. The kits winced and flinched backwards, while Songpaw met her leader straight in the eye. "Hello, Hollystar. Aspenkit and Willowkit have been attacked by EarthClan again."_

_"Again?" Hollystar asked. One ear twitched._

_Songpaw nodded. "They've become quite bruised and battered." She used her tail to gesture at the two kits; Aspenkit hissed as the tail came in reach, while Willowkit whimpered and shrunk away. "Perhaps we should send them back to their Clan. There must be another nursing queen by now."_

_Hollystar's eyes seemed wise, but somewhat skeptical. "Darkstar mentioned Drizzlestorm had given birth at the last Gathering…"_

_The chance was there, and Songpaw took it. "Yes! They only need a few sunrises more of milking, and then they will be able to eat on their own!"_

_Aspenkit snarled and opened her mouth as if to speak, but seemed to think better of it and closed it again, looking down at the ground sadly. Willowkit laid a comforting tail on her sister's back and whispered something in her ear._

_"… Alright. Who would like to take the kits back to FlameClan?" the kittypet-like leader asked, lifting her head and addressing the cats standing around, watching the spectacle._

_"I would."_

_The voice came from a petite grey and white cat, who padded up to the kits and slowly touched each of their noses to her own, eyes shining. Hollystar nodded, an amused smile on her face. "I'm glad, Featherspirit. It's quite nice you warmed up to them."_

_Featherspirit smiled sheepishly. "Yes… though I wish it had happened before."_

_Songpaw heard none of this. Her mind was whirring with her own thoughts – dastardly and deadly. She had gotten the kits to go back to their home Clan – they were fire cats, not MistClan. All she had to do was take them out of camp, scratch them up some, say it was EarthClan, and it was a done deal. Of course, she had to rip her own skin too, or maybe she would have Aspenkit fight her, just for kicks and giggles. A little blood wasn't that much if it meant she had her brother and sister back again._

_"Yes," she whispered to herself, eyes flashing. "Yes… you two will always be alone in the fog…"_

_Songpaw watched as Featherspirit led the kits out of the camp, whispering in their ears and licking their wounds clean. "_Always_."_

Brightfur's eyes shot open, alight with terror. Another dream. Another terrible, divinatory dream.

Another dream that was sure to come true.

She had been sitting in the clearing, watching with dismay as Squirreltail stormed into the den. All of a sudden her mind had simply seemed to dissolve, replaced by another vision that had made her feel empty inside. Hollowed out.

The she-cat was startled out of her thoughts by Squirreltail stomping out of the nursery, fur ruffled and teeth bared. Before he could get away, Brightfur stomped on his tail. "Wait."

He kept moving forward, trying to get free. "Let me go, Brightfur."

"Um, how 'bout no?" Her voice, icy cold, shot through the air like silvery claws, and Squirreltail stopped, looking at her, pale indigo eyes piercing with fury.

"Brightfur." His voice was firm and calm, but somehow angrier than any voice Brightfur had ever heard before, and it sent shudders down her spine. "You are going to let me _go._"

Squirreltail's tone of voice scared her somewhat, so, reluctantly, Brightfur stepped off of his tail. Massaging it, the brown tom rolled his blue-lavender iris' exasperatedly and stalked off, with no words whatsoever.

_What's happened to him? He used to be such a good friend..._

"Brightfur?" Shadowwhisker's friendly voice called, startling the silver she-cat from her nostalgic thoughts. "Would you like to come see Sunnykit now? She's available."

Still dazed and only half-awake, Brightfur nodded and headed into the nursery, enjoying the tingle of the fire that flickered around her. Instantly she spotted the acclaimed Sunnykit, who looked up at her with closed eyes and let out the tiniest of squeaks. "Aww," the silver cat whispered, touching her nose to the kits'.

Drizzlestorm smiled wearily. "Hello, Brightfur."

Sunflight said nothing; his golden fur so much like his daughters' was ruffled and drab, and his green eyes were angry and unseeing. He stared at his paws and turned away. Brightfur wondered what the matter was, but thought nothing much of it at the moment. Perhaps he had had his fur snagged by some miniscule brambles in the nest. It was to be expected, since apprentices and younger warriors had gathered it.

They talked for a little while longer, Drizzlestorm and Brightfur, just like real sisters would, though both of them knew they could never be that. Sunflight never said a word.

Suddenly a loud eruption seemed to explode from a clearing; Brightfur's head jerked up. Shadowwhisker darted inside, eyes wide, but brimming with emotion. "Brightfur, you have to come see!" she purred.

"Is it okay if I leave?" the silver warrior asked, turning to Drizzlestorm, who nodded wearily.

"Yes, it's fine." She smiled. "We'll be okay here with Sunnykit." The queen's gaze flickered to her distracted mate, and she sighed. "We might have some things to talk about."

Nodding, Brightfur waved her tail goodbye as she sprinted out of the nursery…

…and the most amazing sight met her eyes.

The most amazing, and the worst.

Because it meant her visions had come true.

But Brightfur couldn't stop herself from yowling out with pure joy, joined by many jubilant others as she did so.

"Aspenkit! Willowkit!"

They had been confused for a little bit, the kits, but they figured out what was going on after a while, with some help from Featherspirit (who explained that threats had been made to MistClan from EarthClan and it wasn't safe to keep the kits anymore), and were pleased with their surroundings. The one cat missing from the happy celebration was the most important one of all: Oakscar. Darkstar took note of this quite quickly.

"Maplestep."

Said she-cat raised her head questioningly and looked at her leader's silver gaze. Darkstar meowed solemnly, "Get your brother. Brightfur, take the kits to Drizzlestorm – she can nurse them with Sunnykit until they can feed on meat. And everyone, stop acting like some dead cat has come back to life – we _knew_ the kits were coming back." He flicked his dark tail and stalked off, leaving the cats to murmur among themselves.

Brightfur trotted over to the kits, who looked at her with wide eyes. "Follow me to the nurs—" she began, before she froze.

"What's wrong?" Aspenkit asked defensively, noting the silver she-cat's stares.

_The scars. They were all there, right in the same places as in her visions._

"N-Nothing! Follow me," Brightfur purred shakily, turning before the cats could see the look of pain that flashed across her face.

The kits glanced at each other nervously, padding after the grown warrior.

Her stomach churning, Brightfur gulped. _I thought that when the kits arrived again, everything would be fine. But if my visions were true…which it sure looks like it…_ She sighed and felt a shudder pass through her. _Everything is certainly not going to be fine…_

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**Sorry, Rain, if you read this! I had to make a shot-in-the-dark at the last sentence and added in a couple of "Adlet Tweaks" into the chapter. Nothing major, but I bet that you saw them if you read this here for some reason.**


	47. Chapter Fourty-Six: Sunflight

**And on to Chapter 46! Sorry that it took so long, its just that, oddly enough, summer is the time when its hardest to write for the both of us...**

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A few more days had passed since the two kits had come home, and Sunflight noted Squirreltail was being as cold as ever. While his violet eyes sparkled with glee when he'd see Aspenkit and Willowkit chasing each other around and around, he'd growl if any cat did as much as mention Sunnykit in any way at all.

Of course, many cats took note of this quickly; however, most of them understood his detesting of Sunflight and did nothing of the sort to stop him. This irked Sunflight, but he knew he couldn't force some other cat to fight his own battles for him. Squirreltail's hatred of both him and Sunnykit was a weight he and Drizzlestorm had to bear alone.

But one newleaf evening, some cat clearly decided it was their weight as well.

The night was cool and crisp, and the air ticked Sunflight's nose, making him want to sneeze like a little kit; restraining himself, he whispered to Drizzlestorm that he would be going on a walk. Giving Sunnykit one last nuzzle, he snuck out of the nursery to watch the night sky.

The stars twinkled above, and the stiff form of a cat that was clearly Squirreltail (Sunflight could tell by the way he sat upright with ears erect and tail not twitching once) sat on guard, silhouette dark against the wall of flames. Sunflight drew his lips back, showing teeth, and drew back into the warrior's den so as not to be seen.

As he watched, blue eyes wary, another cat crept into the clearing, one whose silhouette was similar to several cats in the Clan, one who he could not tell who it was. It hissed at the guard, causing Squirreltail to turn.

"What do _you_ want?" he hissed to the cat.

"You know what I want," the cat replied in such a low voice it was flat, and emotionless. It was clearly female, though the voice was so dead inside, Sunflight strained to figure out which cat could possibly sound like that. "I want the best for you."

The orange firelight lapped at Squirreltail's paws, revealing his claws, glinting in the harsh orange light. He spat something back, not audible to the golden tom creeping in the shadows of the den.

The other cat's voice, though Sunflight could only catch snippets, was now heated. He strained to tell who it was and what she was saying, but couldn't quite catch it over the roaring of the flames and the snoring of Oakscar and Maplestep behind him (did snoring run in the family?). "…n't you going to be kind for –"

"…Stoneyfoot, don't you understand?" came the reply of Squirreltail, hot and fiery.  
Sunflight twitched his tail with annoyance at the name he hated when he felt a whoosh of air at his back. Panicked that someone had discovered he was spying on the confronting cats, he whipped around…

…to see a white warrior sleepily swiping his paws at an imaginary creature and purring like a silly kit. With effort, Sunflight tried to pick around the felines, with this being a challenge because of his abnormally large paws, and stealthily bolted to the side of the den, turning his ears once again towards the quarreling figures.

Blue eyes picked up the glinting orbs that were the eyes of none other than Squirreltail, but that wasn't who he had wanted to see. However much he twisted, though, he couldn't get in the right angle to observe the she-cat.

Finally Sunflight picked up the voices again, causing his fur to spike up and shivers to go through his body.

"You should _support_ the ones you love, not mope like a spoiled kit who wants his way!" the female's low, emotionless voice stabbed.

"But it's MoonClan, like I said! Stoneyfoot should leave before I—"

Sunflight flinched, remembering his thought of Squirreltail murdering him and his daughter just to get Drizzlestorm back to himself. _Would he really do something like that?_

"You _what_?" Green eyes suddenly pierced through the darkness like a claw through a leaf.

Squirreltail glanced up at the she-cat and licked a paw nonchalantly before responding to finish his statement: "Before I throw it out myself." What Sunflight could see of the tom's eyes, they reflected a slightly wild light, signaling clearly that he meant to say something much more shocking but just didn't want to at the time.

"Stop calling Sunflight an 'it,' Squirreltail," came the voice again, tinged with pain, like this was no longer in her control.

White teeth glinted clearly through the night like pointed stars as she added, "You won't get Sunflight if I get you first."

Violet eyes widened, and a panicked gurgle escaped the brown tom's throat. He looked utterly shocked and revolted, just how Sunflight felt. With a feeling of dread deep in his stomach, he started to back up against the wall again when –

_CRACK_!

Feeling the familiar twinge of a stick underpaw, Sunflight froze, wincing as the splinters wormed their way into his fur. Squirreltail's head shot straight up, and angry violet eyes scanned the clearing. "Is someone there?"

It seemed he wasn't at all phased by the she-cat's warning, but got to his paws. "I asked who goes there?"

"Squirreltail!" the she-cat pleaded. "It's probably some cat just going to make dirt, that's all! Really!"

Sunflight didn't listen to any of this – he quickly stumbled back into the den with a sharp wail of panic as he found himself tumbling atop the white warrior's tail, causing the cat to leap up with a yowl. Amber eyes flew around the den furiously, looking for the one who had broken his easy, dream-filled sleep. Sunflight pressed against the wall in the shadows, furiously hoping that his golden coat didn't glow in the darkness.

The white tom got up, eyes narrowed. "Who was it? Who was it that stepped on my tail? Because, you know, that was _not_ a good idea." He let out a long stretch and stepped over a twitching Flowerbreeze into the clearing to see the two cats confronting each other.

Sunflight pressed into the wall, hardly able to breathe, as Whitescar narrowed his eyes and announced, "Squirreltail, did you step on my tail?"

"N-No, Whitescar!" Bowing respectively to the senior warrior, the brown tom shook his head. "I'm on guard duty tonight, I promise you that. I've been out here all night!"

"Is that so?"

"Yes!"

"Hmm." Whitescar glared at him again and walked back into the den, occasionally peeking over his shoulder a few times as if Squirreltail might try to attack his tail like it was a fluffy white moth. "You're lucky this time."

"Yes, Whitescar," Squirreltail agreed.

When the white tomcat had gotten back in his nest and quickly dozed off yet again, Sunflight allowed himself to breathe. _That was really close._ Way _too close._ Quietly he tiptoed back to the front of the den, careful to avoid all sleeping figures, and watched the two cats continue to hiss and growl at one another.

He still couldn't tell who the she-cat was, but that wasn't the problem now. Based on what he had just heard, Squirreltail would be willing to hurt him and his family and maybe even _kill_ him to get him out of his Clan and away from his sister.

This wasn't good. He had already been feeling out of place at FlameClan and had been missing his old home and Waterfrost dearly. No, it wasn't good at all.

"You should give him a chance!" the she cat shrieked, her voice rising up higher then intended.

"I _can't_!" Squirreltail yelled back with almost a touch of pain in his voice. "We did _everything _together, don't you see? Then he had to come RUIN everything!"

Some of the cats in the den stirred at the shouting; Sunflight noticed Flowerbreeze open one eye and blink at him wearily.

"Sunflight?" she whispered, in a daze. "What's going on? Who's yelling?"

Lying his golden tail across her back, the tom whispered, "Nothing that involves you. You can go back to sleep now."

The ginger and white she-cat blinked her green eyes and sighed, closing them. Sunflight watched her until he saw the steady rise and fall of her chest that meant she was sleeping again, and sighed. He couldn't do this anymore. He couldn't play charades as a Clan cat he wasn't meant to be.

He just hoped Drizzlestorm would accept his decision.

_I'll talk to her in the morning,_ Sunflight decided, lying down in his nest. _She'll understand. She'll have to understand… right?_

His sleep was filled with fire, water, and the voices of two fighting cats.

* * *

**What will happen because of this? ... Something!**


End file.
